The CMS has a Request for Proposal out [emphasis added]:
Solicitation Number: RFP-CMS-RMADA-2014
Notice Type: Modification/Amendment
Synopsis: Added: Nov 20, 2013 1:17 pmThe purpose is to develop a Research, Measurement, Assessment, Design, and Analysis (RMADA) IDIQ [Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity contracting/procurement type] to respond to expanded needs of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care ACT (ACA) and Health Care reform ACT (HCERA). The work awarded under the RMADA will involve the design, implementation and evaluation of a broad range of research and/or payment and service delivery models to test their potential for reducing expenditures for Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and uninsured beneficiaries while maintaining or improving quality of care.
Section C of this RFP has this expansion [emphasis added]:
…the [CMS] will award task orders (TOs) for a wide range of analytic support and technical assistance activities that support models and demonstration programs created or derived under the auspices of the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (ACA), and future health reform legislation where new delivery and payment reform models are enacted. The demands of new reforms created under ACA have redefined the way CMS approaches and conducts research activities and demonstrations affecting Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and uninsured populations. The role of state and private sector payers is also redefined as many of the new models include multiple payers working in collaboration with CMS to reform the care delivery system. The RMADA will provide CMS with a robust tool to meet those challenges. Some of the major activities this umbrella contract will address include the following: designing, maintaining and refining model/demonstration design and operations; monitoring model site implementations; designing and carrying out surveys and other data collection activities; obtaining and analyzing secondary data sources including Medicare, Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and private payer sources that support model design and evaluations. Some other evaluation activities envisioned under the RMADA include reporting on formative and summative analyses, providing rapid cycle quarterly evaluation feedback to all model participants and CMS, and the creation of summative annual and final program findings.
Aside from only just figuring out that “The demands of new reforms created under ACA have redefined the way CMS approaches and conducts research activities and demonstrations affecting Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and uninsured populations” and “The role of state and private sector payers is also redefined…,” they’ve also just discovered HHS, or its CMS ObamaMart Project “Integrator,” hadn’t thought about doing these things from the jump.
As a result, now they want to spend an additional $7 billion of our money on their failure. Probably, it’s too much to hope for any of these billions being committed to saving pennies will be committed to reducing the costs of all that added reporting and paperwork. Or even that the entire $7 billion could be saved (and sent over to Treasury to reduce our national debt) with withdrawing this foolish RFP.
As you can see, the ObamaMart still is withholding any sort of idea of actual costs—explicitly, you don’t get to see deductibles and copays, and you only get to see “premiums” for two age groups—which lump together too many characteristics for these made-up numbers to be taken seriously.