GOP lawmakers question value of CMS Innovation Center

Three members of the Senate Finance Committee have sent a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius (PDF) that questions whether the CMS Innovation Center is providing value for the money it spends on its programs.

Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), a physician, requested Sebelius to provide them with a host of information, including an accounting to date of all CMS Innovation Center expenditures to test payment and delivery models, and any strategic plan or operating system document that offers information on the center's future initiatives.

“We support the broad goal of reducing healthcare costs and improving the fiscal solvency of the Medicare and Medicaid programs,” the senators wrote in their Nov. 10 letter. “However, we are concerned about some of the specific mechanisms chosen by the Innovation Center and their potential impact on Medicare and Medicaid spending in the near future.”