The Maryland Model
Focusing on the health of the community, the Maryland Model allows hospitals to collaborate and use their resources to support Maryland and provide excellent care.
Overview
Maryland’s Total Cost of Care Model, part of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation contract and overseen by the Health Services Cost Review Commission (HSCRC), extends the legacy of the All-Payer Model and Maryland’s over 40-year commitment to innovating hospital payment systems. For decades, Maryland has regulated hospital rates through HSCRC, ensuring equitable pricing across all payers—be it private, commercial, Medicare, Medicaid, or self-pay—for identical services at the same hospital. Maryland’s successful implementation of the Maryland Model has led the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to extend those same principles to other states.
The Maryland Model aims to promote:
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Equity
Marylanders get great health care—no matter where they live, who they are, or their income. In our hospital payment system, everyone pays the same, sparing Marylanders from cost-shifting and the two-tiered care that burdens patients and worsens outcomes elsewhere. The Maryland Model promotes equitable access and equitable outcomes. -
Community
Maryland, under the Total Cost of Care Model, is the only state where hospitals are accountable for the health of their communities. Hospitals invest outside their walls, so people do not have to come in to benefit. Focusing on the health of the community, hospitals collaborate more and use their resources to help their neighbors. -
Value
Hospitals in Maryland don’t dictate prices, and they aren’t paid more to do more. In the Maryland Model, hospitals get a set budget to help keep their communities healthy. Your hospitals focus on quality and the value of care.