Health Reform: New Models of Care Workgroup

Workgroup Overview

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) included funding for a Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to test new Medicaid and Medicare financing and delivery models. The intent of the provisions is to test new models aimed at improving health care quality and health outcomes, while reducing health care costs. North Carolina, through its Community Care of North Carolina (CCNC) program is already considered a national leader in patient-centered medical homes. The New Models of Care Workgroup will examine the new funding opportunities to test new financing and delivery models; and will consider the state’s existing strengths as well as potential opportunities for improvement.

As part of this effort, the New Models of Care Workgroup will work to:

• Explore new methods of financing care, including accountable care organizations, bundled payment, global payment


• Explore new methods of delivering care, including patient centered medical home, coordinated care for chronic illness, medication management

Information about the Affordable Care Act

General information about health reform including presentations, a summary of funding opportunities, and helpful links is available here.

Workgroup Background

The overall goal of this effort is to identify the decisions the state must make in implementing health reform. The Advisory Group and workgroups also plan on identifying potential funding opportunities to ensure that we are aware of, and take advantage of, any potential funding opportunity that will help us improve population health, access to care, and health care quality. We want to build on North Carolina's existing strengths and ensure that the decisions made in implementing the federal legislation serve the best interests of the state as a whole.

The effort will be led by Lanier Cansler, Secretary of the NC Department of Health and Human Services, and Wayne Goodwin, Commissioner of the NC Department of Insurance. The new federal health reform legislation will have significant impact on the way that health care is delivered in North Carolina.

To help the state prepare for these changes, eight different workgroups are being established:Prevention, Safety Net, Health Professional Workforce, Health Insurance Exchange and Insurance Oversight, Medicaid, New Models of Care, Quality, Fraud and Abuse.

This planning effort will be led by an Overall Advisory Group that will help coordinate the work of each of these workgroups. Each workgroup will meet approximately one time per month from August 2010-August 2011 to review specific sections of the legislation and examine any new funding opportunities that are made available as part of this legislation.