GAO Report Recommends Revisions to VBP Program Calculations for Payment Bonuses and Penalties

​A congressionally mandated report on the impact of Medicare's value-based purchasing (VBP) program says that most hospitals have received bonuses or incurred penalties that represent a small fraction (less than 0.5%) of their total Medicare payments. The June 30, 2017, report, prepared by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), said that, in dollar terms, the bonuses and penalties amounted to as much as $68,000 and $84,000, respectively. Congress requested the report partly to evaluate the program's impact on Medicare quality and efficiency.