It’s been 8 1/2 years since the CMS first announced its value-based insurance design (VBID) pilot for Medicare Advantage programs.

At the time, the agency said the program would give Medicare Advantage plans the flexibility to design plans that incentivize patients to use high-value care. Plans were permitted to offer rewards for getting preventive screening and to reduce copayments for inexpensive drugs, such as generic statins, with an eye toward reducing heart attacks, strokes and other medical events that involve costly care. “By encouraging healthier behaviors and recommended care, the model aims to improve care quality, enhance beneficiary health and reduce health spending,” said a 2023 Rand assessment of the program that was commissioned by CMS’ Center for Medicare and Medicaid Inn

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