- CMS Champions Innovation and Competition While Buoying Value-Based Care Modern Healthcare by Maria Castellucci — The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a "request for information" Wednesday from providers and patient advocacy groups on new ideas to bring to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, which is responsible for creating new payment models. The notice came after CMS Administrator Seema Verma wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed Tuesday evening that the Innovation Center's old policies led to consolidation that has been widely blamed for growing overall healthcare costs. She also said the policies burdened providers. "Providers need the freedom to design and offer new approaches to delivering care. Our goal is to increase flexibility by providing more waivers from current requirements," she wrote.