Joy Chen
Director
Joy brings both public and private sector experience with extensive knowledge in value-based arrangements, particularly as it relates to primary care and long-term care. Prior to her role at Coral, Joy was the co-lead for the ACO REACH model at CMS where she managed ACO participation and implemented policy changes related to the model's financial and quality methodologies. She holds an MPH from the Yale School of Public Health.
More from Joy
Blog
On July 14, 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the CY 2027 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) Proposed Rule, which, among other important physician payment updates, includes proposed changes to the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP).
The Request for Applications (RFA) for the Long-Term Enhanced ACO Design (LEAD) Model is now available and due May 17, 2026. The model is the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS’s) newest accountable care initiative, launching in 2027 as the successor to ACO REACH.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Innovation Center (CMMI) has officially announced the Long-term Enhanced ACO Design (LEAD) Model, a new voluntary accountable care model set to launch on January 1, 2027, following the conclusion of ACO REACH at the end of 2026.
CMS is launching a first-of-its-kind model that puts technology companies at the center of Medicare’s prior authorization process with the Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction (WISeR) Model. The WISeR Model aims to focus health care spending on services that improve patient well-being, apply lessons learned from commercial payer prior authorization processes that may be faster, easier, and more accurate, increase transparency of existing Medicare coverage policy, and de-incentivize and reduce the use of medically unnecessary care.
Podcast
This year's proposed physician fee schedule includes a wide range of changes that could affect accountable care organizations, clinicians, and Medicare beneficiaries—from updates to financial methodology and quality measurement to new ideas for prospective payment and specialty care.
In this episode, Coral's Joy Chen and Maria Alexander speak with Jake Quinton, Chief Medical Officer for the Center for Medicare about which proposals matter most, what they signal about CMS’s longer-term vision for accountable care, and where CMS is seeking practical feedback from organizations working on the ground.
Specialty care has long been one of the harder pieces of accountable care to operationalize. In this episode, Coral’s Joy Chen speaks with Theresa Dreyer, CEO of the Health Care Transformation Task Force, about what CMS’s Long-term Enhanced ACO Design, or LEAD, Model could mean for ACOs and specialty groups. They discuss why specialty engagement has been challenging across payer lines, how LEAD creates more formal pathways for ACO-specialist arrangements, what different types of specialty groups may need to consider, and what it will take for these models to move from payment design to practical changes in care delivery.
As accountable care models continue to evolve, organizations are increasingly being asked to engage specialists in more meaningful and coordinated ways. In this episode, Coral Health Advisor’s Joy Chen sits down with Aisha Pittman, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs at NAACOS; Dr. Erin Hurlburt, Chief Medical Officer of Population Health Services at Lumeris; and Dr. Gene Quinn, Chief Executive Officer of Envoy Integrated Health, to discuss the growing role of specialty care in value-based care and accountable care models. The conversation explores challenges and opportunities related to incentives, care accountability, data sharing, network design, and specialist alignment, along with insights from NAACOS’ new Specialty Engagement in Accountable Care Toolkit.
In this episode of the Pop Health Podcast, Coral's Maria Alexander and Joy Chen welcome Meredith Yinger, Model Lead for the Innovation Center’s LEAD (Long-term Enhanced ACO Design) Model and Emily Bezold, Senior Advisor to the Center’s ACO portfolio. Together, they explore more about the mission and vision for LEAD, how the model came to fruition, the Center’s rationale for key design features, and what potential applicants may want to know before they apply.
In this episode, Melissa Cohen, Founder of Coral Health Advisors, is joined by Maria Alexander, EVP & Partner, and Joy Chen, Director, to unpack CMMI’s newest accountable care model — LEAD (Long-term Enhanced ACO Design). Together, they explore how LEAD builds on MSSP and ACO REACH, what’s actually new (and what’s familiar), and how ACOs should start thinking about readiness, risk, and strategy ahead of a potential 2027 launch.
In this episode, Melissa Cohen is joined by Coral Health Advisors’ Alison Falb and Joy Chen to break down key updates for ACOs in the CY 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule and explore the new mandatory Ambulatory Specialty Model.