In the last couple of weeks, some major changes have been made to the immediate future of Value-Based Care payment models.

Some of these updates include:

• The extension of the Oncology Care Model (OCM) until June of 2022. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is also giving practices the ability to abdicate downside and upside risk performance during the COVID-19 outbreak.
• The delay of starting the new Direct Contracting model to April 1^st, 2021.
• The extension of the Next-Gen ACO model until December 2021.
• The option for participating entities in the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced (BPCI) payment model  to eliminate upside or downside risk.
• The removal of COVID-19 episodes of care for certain Medicare ACO models.