President's Budget Leans Heavy On Value-Based Purchasing, But RAND Questions Savings

President's Budget Leans Heavy On Value-Based Purchasing, But RAND Questions Savings-insidehealthpolicy: The president's 2014 budget includes initiatives to expand Medicare value-based purchasing and strengthen quality incentives, and CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner said in an address this morning that leaning more heavily on value-based purchasing will be one of the agency's goals for 2014 and an ongoing project. But a RAND report also out Tuesday (March 4) points to mixed results on whether using such payment schemes, especially newer models, help improve quality and lower costs.