North Texas News

Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX), and House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX) have jointly penned a letter to Comptroller General Gene Dodaro of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) urging an investigation into the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) and its implications for the federal budget.

The letter highlights concerns over the escalating costs associated with CMMI's initiatives and their impact on federal spending in the healthcare sector. It references a report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) that revealed a significant increase in direct spending by $5.4 billion in Medicare due to CMMI's activities between 2011 and 2020, contrary to the initial projection of net savings.

Among the key points raised in the letter is the need for GAO to scrutinize CMMI's utilization of dedicated funding, including the allocation of its first $10 billion mandatory appropriation before receiving additional funding in Fiscal Year 2020. The letter also calls for an assessment of CMMI's performance goals, models testing, provider inclusion criteria, and budgetary forecasting processes.

The background section of the letter underscores that despite its inception under the Affordable Care Act with the aim of reducing costs and enhancing care quality for beneficiaries, CMMI has fallen short of its intended objectives. The revised analysis by CBO indicates that rather than generating savings, CMMI has contributed to a substantial increase in federal spending.

The call for a GAO investigation follows a recent roundtable discussion by the Health Care Task Force (HCTF) members, which focused on exploring the reasons behind CMMI's failure to achieve budgetary savings as originally intended.

The joint effort by Congressman Burgess and Chairman Arrington underscores the growing concerns surrounding CMMI's financial impact on the federal budget and the imperative for a comprehensive review of its operations and outcomes.