On January 1, CMS launched its latest alternative payment model: TEAM, the Transforming Episode Accountability Model. The mandatory program requires hundreds of acute care hospitals to participate in episode-based payments for five common, high-cost surgeries.

TEAM's goal is central to value-based care: improve quality while reducing Medicare spending. But the model has faced industry resistance. Critics argue it puts smaller, less-resourced hospitals at risk and should be voluntary. CMS maintains that the model builds on past voluntary programs and aligns with recommendations from federal partners.

To understand TEAM and what it demands of hospitals, senior writer Anastassia Gliadkovskaya talks with Jeff Gleason, M.D., the new chief medical officer of Navvis, a value-based care enablement company. He argues that hospitals that don't prepare now will struggle later.

To learn more about the topics in this episode:

• Hospitals rail against 'inadequate' pay bump, mandatory TEAM participation in IPPS comments
• Hospitals, health systems expect to ramp up value-based care in 2026, 2027
• CMMI to cut participation in payment models, estimates $750M in savings

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Employers are in a tough spot. Healthcare costs are rising, while insurance plan options may seem overwhelming or inadequate. The need for real value has never been more apparent. What if there were a way to optimize an existing provider network for quality?

Garner Health helps employers address these pain points. By finding the best-performing doctors in a given network and incentivizing members to see them, Garner claims to help clients save costs and achieve better health outcomes.

To break it down, Fierce Healthcare's Anastassia Gliadkovskaya talks to Garner Health founder and CEO Nick Reber.

To learn more about the topics in this episode:

• Employers brace for 6.7% increase in health benefits costs
• Report: Payers need to do more to demonstrate value to plan sponsors
• Industry Voices—Maximizing your benefits investment: Why health insurance literacy is the missing link

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Since the Trump administration took office in January, healthcare policy has been moving quickly, with changes touching Medicaid funding, ACA subsidies, hospital finances and the federal government’s approach to health technology.

This week on "Podnosis," we’re bringing you a recording from a live roundtable at the Fierce Health Payer Summit on Dec. 4, where members of the Fierce Healthcare editorial team unpacked the policy and funding shifts already underway. The discussion covers Medicaid cuts and coverage losses, how hospitals are preparing for reduced government funding, CMS’ new health tech ecosystem and where PBM reform stands after years of scrutiny.

To learn more about the topics in this episode:

• Crapo, Cassidy introduce ACA subsidy plan that leans on HSAs
• AHIP presses for ACA subsidy extension, further program integrity measures
• Medicaid work rules exempt the 'medically frail.' Deciding who qualifies is tricky
• When the hospital leaves town
• Many urban safety-net hospitals threatened by OBBBA's Medicaid cuts: analysis
• Industry Voices—3 major changes to Medicare Part B payment policies coming for 2026
• 'Come fight with me'—Oz courts physicians skeptical of Medicaid cuts, MAHA's criticisms
• KFF: States brace for increasing Medicaid costs even as enrollment stays flat
• All 50 states submit applications for $50B Rural Health Transformation Program
• The policies top of mind for healthcare stakeholders right now
• Hospital M&A continues to rebound as policy uncertainty clears

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