$100 million federal grant will support N.Y.’s health-innovation plan

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) has awarded New York a four-year, $100 million grant in the state innovations model-testing program.

The money will support New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s state health-innovation plan, a blueprint that he contends works to give New Yorkers access to “high quality, coordinated” care across the state.

CMMI is part of the Baltimore, Md.–based Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The grant seeks to integrate care and services by improving access to primary care. It will also integrate primary-care services into long-term care, behavioral health, specialty care, and community supports, Cuomo’s office said in a news release.

It will also link physicians and community-based resources to help promote the state’s health-prevention agenda and Medicaid-reform efforts, it added.

The funding seeks to “increase transparency” to assure that patients, payers, and providers have access to information that will help them make informed choices about their health care. The grant will also “pay for the value of care received by a patient,” according to Cuomo’s office.

Cuomo’s state health-innovation plan works toward the development and implementation of “innovative” health-service delivery and payment models, which seek to provide access to integrated care-delivery systems, his office said.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com