Are value-based care (VBC) and single-payer healthcare mutually exclusive? That’s a difficult question. And, even as CMS continues to transition toward value-based reimbursement models, there may be changes afoot.

Last week, ahead of the 2018 mid-term elections, 70 House members formed a “Medicare for All” caucus, with the aim of advancing the development of a single-payer healthcare system.

There have been increasingly frequent calls — even among centrists — for Congress to authorize a Medicare-based, unrestricted, nationwide safety-net system. To date, it’s been viewed as politically risky for House members to endorse universal single-payer, but the concept is beginning to gain traction in Main Street polling.

Last December, Gallup reported that 47% of Americans supported the idea of a single-payer system; by April of this year, some polls showed single-payer favored by a slight majority.

“It’s important that Americans understand, this isn’t some crazy idea,” remarked Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., one of the caucus’s co-founders. “It’s an idea that has actually been very successful in moving the economies forward of countries around the world.”

The House “Medicare-for-All” bill (H.R. 676) now boasts 122 co-sponsors, according to USA TODAY’s Nicole Gaudiano, including nearly two-thirds of House Democrats. A Senate version, introduced by Sen. Sanders (I – Vt.), currently has 16 co-sponsors.

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