health
Republicans Must Rein in Wasteful Obama-Era Agency
As the healthcare bureaucracy expands, small businesses and entrepreneurs are paying the price.
TL;DR
- The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) is expanding the healthcare bureaucracy and negatively impacting small businesses and entrepreneurs.
- CMMI was created by Obamacare to test demonstration programs but has become a regulator imposing nationwide policy changes without adequate oversight.
- Recent mandatory models like GLOBE and GUARD reflect a flawed approach characterized by top-down bureaucracy, shifting priorities, and minimal accountability.
- Between 2011 and 2020, CMMI lost $5.4 billion instead of delivering projected savings, with few models avoiding increased costs or reduced care quality.
- Mandatory models create one-size-fits-all frameworks that disrupt care, impose administrative burdens, and introduce volatility into payment structures.
- Small businesses, with limited margins, are particularly vulnerable to these shifts, leading to reduced investment and slower innovation.
- Congress, particularly Republican leadership, can fix this by restoring oversight, limiting CMMI's scope, suspending mandatory demonstrations, and ensuring future models are targeted, evaluated, and voluntary.
- Addressing these issues can protect patient choice, reduce bureaucracy and waste, and ensure the continued progress of America's innovation economy.