Health Care Efficiency Through Flexibility Act

Core Policy Mechanism Top 1

Digital Quality Measure Reporting Pilot Program 2028–2032

Creates a pilot program from 2028 to 2032 in which selected accountable care organizations (ACOs) test fully digital quality reporting. Participating ACOs report only two designated measures digitally and are excused from all other quality reporting, with results informing a plan for broader digital reporting adoption. Requires the federal government to offer accountable care organizations (ACOs) in the Medicare Shared Savings Program a choice of three approved data collection methods for quality reporting each year from 2025 through 2029, expanding flexibility in how ACOs submit required quality data. Clarifies that an accountable care organization (ACO) cannot be penalized for incomplete quality data solely because one or more of its member providers could not use the ACO's chosen data collection method, as long as the overall data otherwise meets completeness requirements.

• Population Scope Low Directly affects only the small subset of Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) ACOs that voluntarily apply and are selected for the pilot, a narrow slice of healthcare entities relative to the broader population.
• Budgetary Magnitude Low No funds are authorized or appropriated; any costs arise from existing agency operations and the limited technical assistance obligation, neither of which is quantified or newly obligated.
• Legal / Regulatory Depth Medium Creates new statutory duties on the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) governing ACO selection, measure specification, reporting waivers, and public reporting, but these bind agency procedure and pilot conduct rather than altering the substantive quality-performance standards or payment structure of the MSSP.
• Degree of Discretion Granted High The Secretary of HHS retains broad discretion over which ACOs to select, which two measures to designate for digital reporting, what digital collection type to specify, and how to structure the application process, with most operative choices delegated by 'shall specify' and 'as specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services' language.
• Implementation & Enforcement Burden Low Participation is voluntary and compliance obligations are limited to applying ACOs; no new penalties, enforcement mechanisms, or recurring adjudicatory infrastructure are created.
• Temporal Commitment Low The pilot and its mandatory reporting requirement both expire after performance year 2032, a hard statutory endpoint within ten years that self-terminates unless Congress acts to extend it.