Humana Reports Lower Medicare Costs After Implementing Value-Based Payments For Physicians

In markets where Humana's Medicare Advantage plans implemented value-based payments for physicians, total health care costs were 4% lower compared to costs for Humana plans with standard physician reimbursement models. The Humana plans with value-based reimbursement had total health care costs 15% lower than traditional fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare.

The value-based reimbursement model rewarded the network provider organizations (physician practices) for meeting quality measures, controlling costs, and improving member health outcomes. The model goes beyond simply rewarding network provider organizations for meeting quality benchmarks and paying FFS for the services delivered. Humana used four value . . .