Healthcare Costs & Price Transparency

Over the past 30 days, CMS has accelerated a major structural shift in Medicare value-based payment through two high-profile initiatives: the proposed nationwide, mandatory CJR-X bundled payment model for lower extremity joint replacements, which would hold most hospitals accountable for total episode costs and outcomes starting October 2027, and the launch of the voluntary ACCESS model, enrolling over 150 organizations to test tech-enabled chronic disease management with leaner payment constructs. These moves signal a clear Trump administration push—under CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz and CMMI Director Abe Sutton—for tighter episode accountability, expanded hospital risk, and greater integration of technology partners into VBC, raising the stakes for hospitals, ACOs, and technology vendors navigating shifting reimbursement models and price transparency pressures. See CMS Proposes Resurrection and Nationwide Expansion of Mandatory Joint Replacement Bundled Payment Model (CJR-X) and Lean payment, voluntary participation test new ACCESS model.