THE NEW DCE’s – ACO-REACH
By President Ken McInnis
I have written before about the threat DCE’s (Direct Contracting Entities – full name Global and Professional Direct Contracting Model (GPDC) pose to Medicare and its continued existence.
I reported to you that given the current progress of Medicare Advantage programs and unfettered DCE’s Medicare could run out of funds as soon as 2026. These insidious entities allow their “plans” to receive a flat fee to “manage” seniors’ health, allowing them to keep 40% of what they don’t spend on care as profit and overhead.
These “plans” are a boondoggle as a direct drain on the financial resources of Medicare and a boon to Wall Street investors who stand to make forty percent (40%) on their investment. Remember these are “managed” plans where the plan manager determines if the plan pays for needed medication or procedures based on a profit motive rather than the health and wellbeing of the participant. What an incentive to refuse services or needed drugs in name of profits for the plan!
Your efforts have caused this name change, but it does not end the DCE’s it merely renames them as ACO-REACH (REACH for short). The renamed program continues the same failed approach initiated during the previous administration’s tenure and the new program increases provider governance from 25% to 75% (with loopholes built into the application process), but ACO REACH entities are ultimately accountable to investors.
What do you get when you put lipstick on a pig? It’s still the same pig!
President Biden has the power to end the program completely but has chosen to leave it in place at this point in time. Keep the pressure on President Biden, our Senators, Congressional Representatives and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra demanding an end this program completely.
Here’s some links to help you understand DCE’s/ ACO-REACH and its implications.
DETAILED COMPARISON OF DCEs and ACO-REACH
ELIZABETH WARREN ON WHY DCEs MUST END
A PETITION TO END DCEs
https://pnhp.org/direct-contracting-entities-handing-traditional-medicare-to-wall-street/
HEALTH CARE MN ON VARIOUS HEALTH CARE ISSUES.