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New York will receive approximately $99.9 million to implement and test health care payment and service delivery models that will improve health care quality and lower costs, Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia M. Burwell announced Tuesday.

New York will adopt a tiered Advanced Primary Care (APC) model for primary care. This model will include behavioral and population health, and be complemented by a strong workforce and engaged consumers, with supportive payment and common metrics.

The state will:

• institute a statewide program of regionally-based primary care practice transformation to help practices across New York adopt and use the APC model
• expand the use of value-based payments so that 80 percent of New Yorkers are receiving value-based care by 2020
• support performance improvement and capacity expansion in primary care by expanding New York's  primary care workforce through innovations in professional education and training
• integrate APC with population health through Public Health Consultants funded to work with regional Population Health Improvement Program contractors
• develop a common scorecard, shared quality metrics and enhanced  analytics to assure that delivery system and payment models support three-part aim objectives
• provide state-funded health information technology, including greatly enhanced capacities to exchange clinical data and an all-payer database.

"We are committed to partnering with New York to advance the goals we all share: better care, smarter spending, and, ultimately, healthier people," said Secretary Burwell. "We're seeing states do some very innovative things when it comes to improving the ways we deliver care, pay providers, and distribute information. These funds will support New York in integrating and coordinating the many elements of health care – including Medicaid, Medicare, public health, and private health care delivery systems – to the benefit of patients, businesses, and taxpayers alike."

Nationwide, 28 states, three territories and the District of Columbia will receive over $665 million in Affordable Care Act funding to design and test health care payment and service delivery models that will improve health care quality and lower costs.  Together with awards released in early 2013, over half of states (34 states and 3 territories and the District of Columbia), representing nearly two- thirds of the population are participating in comprehensive state-based innovation in health system transformation.

States will engage a broad group of stakeholders including health care providers and systems, long-term service and support providers, commercial payers, state hospital and medical associations, tribal communities and consumer advocacy organizations.  Transformation efforts supported by this initiative must improve health, improve care and lower costs for Medicare, Medicaid, and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) beneficiaries. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will identify best practices among state-led transformations that are potentially scalable to all states.

The State Innovation Models initiative is one part of an overall effort to help lower costs and improve care through the Affordable Care Act.  Initiatives like Accountable Care Organizations, the Partnership for Patients and others have helped reduce hospital readmissions in Medicare by nearly 8 percent between 2007 and 2013 – translating into 150,000 fewer readmissions – and quality improvements have resulted in saving 50,000 lives and $12 billion in health spending from 2010 to 2013, according to preliminary estimates.

Descriptions and project data are estimates provided by the state and are based on budget submissions required by the State Innovation Models initiative application process.

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