Health Care Matters | March 6
HHS Explores How to Accelerate AI Adoption in Health Care
In response to a federal Request for Information on accelerating the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in clinical care, the Paragon Health Institute submitted comments outlining policy changes that could speed adoption across the health system. Their response emphasizes AI’s potential to support diagnostic decision-making, clinical documentation, predictive analytics, and population health management, while arguing that federal policy should actively remove barriers that slow adoption. The comments highlight several areas where federal action could matter most, including clearer reimbursement pathways for AI-enabled services, regulatory frameworks that evolve alongside increasingly autonomous tools, and federal research demonstrating AI’s potential to reduce overall health spending. Paragon also frames AI adoption in the context of federal fiscal pressures and rising national health expenditures, positioning the technology as a potential lever for improving affordability and long-term budget sustainability. Read more here.
Why It Matters
While the RFI reflects growing federal interest in the role of AI in care delivery, Paragon’s response may also offer a window into how policy priorities could evolve given the organization’s close ties to former Trump administration health officials. The comments emphasize accelerating innovation, reducing regulatory and reimbursement barriers, and leveraging AI to address rising national health expenditures, signals that could point toward a policy approach centered on market adoption and regulatory flexibility. Elements of this direction are already visible in emerging federal initiatives such as the ACCESS Model, which is testing new payment pathways that enable technology-enabled entities, rather than traditional provider organizations, to participate in care delivery and population management. In practice, this creates space for models in which AI-driven tools and automated workflows play a central operational role. If these ideas gain traction within HHS, future policy discussions may increasingly focus not only on regulating AI tools, but also on how federal payment models and coverage pathways evolve to accommodate new types of technology-enabled care delivery organizations.
Look for the Helpers: Community Partnerships Expand Access to Diabetes Technology in Michigan
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is working with community partners to better understand barriers to continuous glucose monitor (CGM) use among Medicaid beneficiaries with diabetes. Despite coverage for eligible patients, adoption remains uneven, particularly among Black Medicaid members who experience higher rates of diabetes complications. To address these gaps, the state partnered with the Detroit Association of Black Organizations to convene community focus groups and gather feedback on awareness, trust, affordability, and usability challenges, helping inform strategies to improve equitable access to CGMs. Read more here.
What We're Writing
Three Takeaways from the 2026 Health Care Value Week Conference
Coral attended the Health Care Value Week Conference hosted by Accountable for Health, where CMS leadership and industry stakeholders discussed priorities shaping the next phase of value-based care. In our latest blog, we highlight three key takeaways from the conference, including insights on the upcoming LEAD model, CMS priorities around fraud, waste, and abuse, and the role of technology and interoperability in enabling accountable care. Read here.
What We Are Reading
New UMass Chan Evaluation: Innovation at MassHealth Led to Improved Health Outcomes and Lower Costs
A MassHealth announcement highlights findings from a UMass Chan Medical School evaluation showing that the state’s Medicaid 1115 demonstration reforms improved physical and behavioral health outcomes while generating roughly $500 million in savings through delivery system and payment reforms. Read here.
State and Territory Medicaid Programs Share the Federal Government’s Interest and Urgency around Medicaid Program Integrity
A recent National Association of Medicaid Directors blog explains how state and territory Medicaid agencies are working to strengthen program integrity efforts and outlines opportunities for CMS to better support states in addressing fraud, waste, and abuse across the program. Read here.
The Role of Medicare Alternative Payment Models in Supporting the Essential Features of Primary Care
A Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine study finds that participation in Medicare alternative payment models is associated with improvements in key features of primary care, including access, comprehensiveness, continuity, and coordination of care. Read here.
CMMI’s ACCESS Model: What Health Tech Providers, Life Sciences Organizations, and ACOs Need to Know
A recent Milliman insight outlines how CMMI’s new ACCESS model will test outcome-aligned payments to expand technology-supported care for Medicare beneficiaries with chronic conditions, while creating new opportunities and risks for health systems, digital health companies, and ACOs. Read here.
Pop Health Podcast
What the LEAD Model Means for ACOs and the Future of Value-Based Care
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.