Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new primary care model – the Making Care Primary (MCP) Model – that will be tested under the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation in eight states. Access to high-quality primary care is associated with better health outcomes and equity for people and communities. MCP is an important step in strengthening the primary care infrastructure in the country, especially for safety net and smaller or independent primary care organizations. The model seeks to improve care for patients by expanding and enhancing care management and care coordination, equipping primary care clinicians with tools to form partnerships with health care specialists, and leveraging community-based connections to address patients’ health needs as well as their health-related social needs.

The goals of MCP are to 1) ensure patients receive primary care that is integrated, coordinated, person-centered and accountable; 2) create a pathway for primary care organizations and practices – especially small, independent, rural, and safety net organizations – to enter into value-based care arrangements; and 3) to improve the quality of care and health outcomes of patients while reducing program expenditures.

The MCP Model will provide participants with additional revenue to build infrastructure, make primary care services more accessible, as well as better coordinate care with specialists. CMS expects this work to lead to downstream savings over time through better preventive care and reducing potentially avoidable costs, such as repeat hospitalizations. MCP will run for 10.5 years, from July 1, 2024, to December 31, 2034. The model will build upon previous primary care models, such as the Comprehensive Primary Care (CPC), CPC+, Primary Care First models, and the Maryland Primary Care Program (MDPCP).

CMS will test this advanced primary care model in Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, and Washington. CMS will work with model participants to address priorities specific to their communities, including care management for chronic conditions, behavioral health services, and health care access for rural residents. CMS is working with State Medicaid Agencies in the eight states to engage in full care transformation across public programs, with plans to engage private payers in the coming months. The model’s flexible multi-payer alignment strategy allows CMS to build on existing state innovations and for all patients served by participating primary care clinicians to benefit from improvements in care delivery, financial investments in primary care, and learning tools and supports under the model.

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