Health Plans Beginning to Recognize Importance of Paying for PCMH Model

The AAFP's persistence is beginning to pay off. You might not be aware that AAFP leaders and staff members meet with the nation's largest health plans annually to discuss payment issues and improving care coordination and quality. Now our ongoing dialogue with these health plans has resulted in a significant increase in one health plan's investment in primary care. WellPoint Inc. recently announced that it plans to increase its base fee schedule by 10 percent, start paying for electronic visits and other previously uncompensated services, and offer practices shared savings payments. And according to Samuel Nussbaum, M.D., WellPoint's chief medical officer and EVP for clinical health policy, the Academy's input was critical to the development of its new primary care program.