Using Pay for Success in Health Care

 October 2016
Using Pay for Success in Health Care Corporation for National and Community Service

CNCS Process Evaluation of the SIF Pay for Success Program Office of Research and Evaluation

nationalservice.gov/SIF i

The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) is a federal 

agency that improves lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic 

engagement through service and volunteering. Each year, CNCS engages 

five million Americans of all ages and backgrounds through AmeriCorps, 

Senior Corps, the Social Innovation Fund, the Volunteer Generation Fund, 

and other programs, and leads the President's national call to service 

initiative, United We Serve. For more information, visit 

NationalService.gov. 

The Social Innovation Fund (SIF), a program of CNCS, combines public and 

private resources to grow the impact of innovative, community-based 

solutions that have compelling evidence of improving the lives of people in 

low-income communities throughout the United States. The SIF invests in 

three priority areas: economic opportunity, healthy futures, and youth 

development.

Document Title: Using Pay for Success in Health Care

Authors: 

The following researchers at Abt Associates prepared this report for the Corporation for National and 

Community Service’s Process Evaluation of the Social Innovation Fund Pay for Success Program:

Cristina Booker

Kimberly Burnett

Marjorie Levin

Allan Porowski

Rian Watt

Katharine Witgert

Publication Date: October 2016

Submitted to: Lily Zandniapour, Ph.D., Office of Research and Evaluation, Corporation for National 

and Community Service. For inquiries, please contact evaluation@cns.gov.

Contract Information: This document was produced pursuant to a contract between the Corporation 

for National and Community Service and Abt Associates (Contract # CNSHQ14A0004). 

Name and Address of Contractor: Abt Associates, 55 Wheeler Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

Disclaimer: This report was commissioned as an independent study by the Corporation for National 

and Community Service. Views expressed in the document do not necessarily reflect the official 

viewpoints of the agency or its staff. This document is in the public domain. Authorization to reproduce 

it in whole or in part is granted. This document has been formatted to be readable by assistive 

technologies, in accordance with Section 508 regulations.

Recommended Citation: 

Corporation for National and Community Service, Office of Research and Evaluation (2016). Using Pay for 

Success in Health Care. Washington, DC: Author. Prepared for the Corporation for National and 

Community Service, Office of Research and Evaluation. 
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Acknowledgements: Abt Associates would like to thank the following individuals and organizations 

for their review and contributions to this brief: Lily Zandniapour, Evaluation Program Manager and 

Contracting Officer’s Representative, Corporation for National and Community Service; Mary Hyde, 

Director of Research and Evaluation, Corporation for National and Community Service; Lois Nembhard, 

Acting Director of the Social Innovation Fund, Corporation for National and Community Service; John 

Tambornino, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), U.S. Department of 

Health and Human Services (HHS); Kenneth Finegold, ASPE, HHS; Andy Schneider, Centers for 

Medicare and Medicaid Services, Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services; Katherine Klem, Office of 

Social Innovation and Civic Participation, Office of White House Policy, Executive Office of the President; 

and the Green and Healthy Homes Initiative; Meals on Wheels America; and Nurse-Family Partnership.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using Pay for Success in Health Care Corporation for National and Community Service
 

CNCS Process Evaluation of the SIF Pay for Success Program Office of Research and Evaluation
 

Contents 

1. Introduction.................................................................................................................................................................. 1
 

2. The Promise of Pay for Success in Health Care ................................................................................................... 2
 

3. Medicaid and Pay for Success ................................................................................................................................. 4
 

4. Early Insights on PFS in Health Care...................................................................................................................... 6
 

Appendix A. Pay for Success Project Profiles................................................................................................9
 

Appendix B. Health Policy Glossary.............................................................................................................13
 

Appendix C. Pay for Success Glossary........................................................................................................15
 

Appendix D. Resources and References .....................................................................................................16
 

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Using Pay for Success in Health Care Corporation for National and Community Service

CNCS Process Evaluation of the SIF Pay for Success Program Office of Research and Evaluation

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1. Introduction

In many ways, health-related interventions and Pay for Success (PFS) are natural bedfellows. Since the 2010 passage of the 

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Affordable Care Act), the federal government has increasingly emphasized 

cost-effectiveness, pay for performance measures, and policy innovation across all of its health programs and in policy. At 

the same time, PFS is emerging as an innovative approach to address social problems, and it addresses these elements of 

the Affordable Care Act (Exhibit 1). PFS ties funding for an intervention to achievement of its outcomes and impacts in 

the community, enabling government or other payors (for example, health insurance providers or hospitals) to pay only 

for what works. Interest in PFS models for health-related interventions has been increasing, and this brief is designed to 

address opportunities to initiate PFS projects in this arena. Other policy developments have fueled interest in PFS 

financing models as well, including long-standing efforts to reduce health care costs per capita and an increasing focus on 

prevention. Only one of the PFS projects that have launched in the United States (as of July 2016) has a health-related 

objective, but many more are in development. 

Exhibit 1. Parallels between the Affordable Care Act and PFS

Affordable Care Act Pay for Success

Improving outcomes Improving outcomes

Innovative policy Innovative approach

Pay for performance Pay for outcomes

Cost-effectiveness Cost effectiveness or 

cost savings

The Corporation for National and Community Service’s 

(CNCS) Social Innovation Fund (SIF) PFS Grant Program is 

in the process of markedly changing the landscape of PFS 

in health care and disease prevention. This initiative has 

funded 11 grantees: eight in 2014, its inaugural year, and 

another three in 2016, to either provide feasibility 

assessment and capacity building assistance or to structure 

transactions for PFS projects. Healthy futures, which 

includes promoting healthy lifestyles and reducing the risk 

factors that can lead to illness, is one of the three key areas 

of focus designated by CNCS for the SIF PFS program, and 

two of the program’s 2014 grantees are focusing exclusively 

on supporting PFS projects related to healthy futures. 

Through their selected subrecipients, these 11 grantees are supporting the development of approximately 70 projects, and 

about 20 of these projects have a primary focus on healthy futures. 

Role of CNCS 

Objective of the brief

The brief is intended to assist stakeholders and government agencies considering using PFS in health-related 

interventions. It identifies the motivations for using PFS financing models to support health-related interventions, the 

challenges involved, and early insights about using PFS models with health-related interventions. To illustrate these 

points, we provide examples from in-depth discussions with service providers and intermediaries working on three 

different PFS projects being implemented or in late stages of development. These projects were selected based on the 

health issues they address, their different stages of development, and the role of Medicaid in each project. The 

observations from this brief were also drawn from a review of the PFS projects that have been launched to date in the 

United States and the health-related projects now in development under the SIF PFS program. 
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Outline of the brief

The next section of this brief introduces three specific health-related PFS projects and draws conclusions about how PFS 

can be used with health care initiatives. Because Medicaid is one of the largest payors of health care in the U.S. (about 16

percent of total health spending), and the Medicaid-eligible population is often similar to the populations targeted by PFS 

projects, there are potential synergies between Medicaid and PFS. These are described in Section 3. Section 4 describes the 

early insights and emerging themes from the body of health-related PFS projects reviewed in this brief. 

Profiles of the three health-related PFS projects are provided in Appendix A. Definitions of key terms related to relevant 

health policy are in Appendix B; a glossary of terms related to Pay for Success is in Appendix C; and resources and 

references are provided in Appendix D.

2. The Promise of Pay for Success in Health Care

Although the projects profiled in this brief cover different health-related interventions, all three illustrate the promise of 

PFS in the health care space, the difficulty in realizing that promise, and the possible paths to overcoming those 

difficulties, as discussed in the remainder of the brief. 

• The Green and Healthy Homes Initiative (GHHI) is currently seeking state Medicaid support to implement a 

PFS asthma prevention intervention in Baltimore, MD in partnership with the Hopkins Medicaid Managed Care 

Organization (MCO). The intervention helps repair or retrofit homes in order to reduce episodes of asthma 

among residents, and particularly children. 

• Meals on Wheels America completed a feasibility assessment in January 2016 of an enhanced program that 

includes case management and well-being checks on seniors around Maryland in addition to the standard daily 

meal delivery. Meals on Wheels America is now using support from the SIF PFS program to identify end payors 

and investors. One of its member organizations, Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland, will provide the services. 

The project will seek to reduce emergency department visits, hospital admissions and length of stay, and 

readmissions.

• Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) is the service provider for the statewide South Carolina Department of Health 

and Human Services’ PFS Project, which launched in April 2016. The project provides nurse home visits to firsttime mothers and their infants in high-poverty communities to reduce preterm births, child hospitalizations, 

emergency department usage (due to injury) and to increase healthy spacing between births. 

Exhibit 2 includes a summary of these projects; additional details are in Appendix A. The glossaries in Appendix B and C 

describe key terms used in these project profiles. All three of the projects profiled are being led by service providers with 

multiple U.S. locations; two of them have been involved with the SIF PFS program. Each offers a specific, evidence-based 

service that has been shown to demonstrate consistent health outcomes and produce cost savings. These services can be 

categorized as public health services that focus on prevention and promotion of better health, and not as clinical health 

services such as those delivered by medical providers in offices or hospitals. These projects aim to reduce asthma-related 

hospital visits; prevent falls among seniors; and reduce preterm births, among other goals. Prevention services like these 

have always been a part of the public health system, but now represent only five percent of total health care spending.1 

 

1 Klein Walker, D., The Affordable Care Act at Five Years: Where is Prevention? Huffington Post, March 7, 2016. Retrieved from:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deborah-klein-walker/the-affordable-care-act-a_3_b_9395240.html
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Exhibit 2. Summary of Profiled Projects

Baltimore GHHI South Carolina 

Nurse-Family Partnership 

Meals on Wheels America 

Project partners

Service provider GHHI NFP Meals on Wheels of Central 

Maryland

Payor Hopkins’ Medicaid MCO (Priority 

Partners MCO)

South Carolina Department of 

Health and Human Services (state 

Medicaid agency)

Currently finalizing arrangements 

with hospital system(s) 

Evaluator Hilltop Institute at the University of 

Maryland Baltimore County

J-PAL North America Currently finalizing selection of 

independent evaluator

Intermediary Social Finance Social Finance and NFP Quantified Ventures LLC

Project characteristics

Intervention In-home technical intervention with 

in-depth and personalized 

behavioral education for the family. 

Home visiting for vulnerable firsttime parents with registered nurses 

from early pregnancy through the 

child’s second birthday

Senior support services: a 

combination of daily home-delivered 

meals, socialization, case 

management with an enhanced inhome assessment, safety checks with 

minor home repairs, and referrals.

Project status Transaction structuring Services launched April 2016 Transaction structuring

Health issue 

being addressed

Reducing the incidence of asthma 

caused by unhealthy housing

Maternal and child health Food security, nutrition, safety and 

fall prevention, and social isolation 

for seniors

Outcome metrics Reduction of utilization across 

inpatient, outpatient, professional 

services, and other categories, will 

be evaluated quarterly using the 

actual health expenditure data of the 

children served, from a data-sharing 

agreement 

•Reduction in preterm births

•Reduction in child hospitalization 

and emergency department usage 

due to injury

•Increase in healthy spacing 

between births

•Reduction in emergency 

department visits 

• Reduction in hospital admissions 

and average length of stay

• Reduction in hospital 30-day 

readmissions

Geographic area Baltimore City and County, MD and 

some areas in the surrounding 

counties

28 of 46 counties in South Carolina Baltimore metro area

Given the health care community’s current focus on the “triple aim” of improved patient experience, improved health 

outcomes, and reduced cost of care per capita—all of which are also aims of PFS projects in the health care space in 

general and these projects in particular—these services may be a good fit for PFS arrangements when the following

conditions are met: 

• The projects rely on an evidence-based intervention,

• The intervention has been shown to produce savings in health care services over the long term, and

• Sources of financing to scale the programs are limited or not readily available in the local context where the 

project seeks to operate. 

Other PFS projects with a health-related intervention have similar characteristics. For example, several PFS projects now 

in development will provide permanent supportive housing (PSH) to formerly homeless people. Evidence demonstrates 
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that PSH reduces emergency room visits, the rate of incarceration, and the use of emergency detoxification services.2 In 

general, PFS represents an opportunity to scale public health services that have proven to be cost-effective but that do not 

fit the traditional scope of health care services. 

The three PFS projects profiled in this document – as well as other health-related projects in development – have similar

motivations for combining health interventions and PFS. Specifically, PFS has the potential to provide start-up capital that 

is otherwise rarely available in social services. Service providers often have capital available only for current operations, 

not for the investment needed to expand their services. For example, project implementers report that PFS has been 

critical to NFP’s strategy in South Carolina. The financing associated with the PFS agreement provided the up-front 

capital needed to increase staffing to provide home visiting services during a ramp-up period of six to nine months. The 

PFS financing allowed NFP to hire and train nurses, build up their caseload, and set up the necessary data systems. 

As another example, PFS can provide the financing needed to design a model that, while already demonstrated to be 

effective, has yet to be replicated in multiple locations. For example, Meals on Wheels’ goal is to produce a replicable 

model that can be rolled out through other affiliates in the Meals on Wheels network. 

In addition, as described more in the next section, all of the three projects see PFS as an opportunity for service providers 

to engage Medicaid. Although the PFS financing offers a sort of start-up capital for expansion, some service providers see 

Medicaid as a potential payor of services provided. That is, once the PFS financing allows the service provider to scale the 

program, Medicaid funding can sustain the program’s ongoing operations. 

3. Medicaid and Pay for Success

The Affordable Care Act’s emphasis on cost-effectiveness, pay for performance, continuous quality improvement and 

policy innovation extends to Medicaid; many states are transforming their Medicaid systems by organizing and paying 

for health care differently. In the last five years, Medicaid at the federal level has strongly encouraged state Medicaid 

programs to employ alternative payment methodologies that reward value over volume. The Medicare and Medicaid 

Innovation Center created by the Affordable Care Act is assisting states in testing delivery system innovations supported 

by payment reforms, and the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMCS) has encouraged states to use existing or 

newly proposed Medicaid authorities to advance value-based purchasing and integrated care models. Given that 

Medicaid accounts for one out of every six dollars spent on health care in the United States and insures 19.6 percent of the 

population,3 this change has the potential to be an important development for PFS and its advocates. 

Potential roles for Medicaid in PFS projects

Given its role in the U.S. health care system, and the fact that some of the savings from a health-related PFS project are 

likely to accrue to Medicaid by averting costly inpatient hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and nursing home 

stays, it is not surprising that all discussants remarked on the importance of Medicaid when exploring PFS projects. 

Traditionally, Medicaid has served as a stable source of ongoing revenue in the health care system by paying for health 

 

2 See Martinez, T. & Burt, M. (2006). Impact of Permanent Supportive Housing on the Use of Acute Care Services by Homeless 

Adults. Psychiatric Services, 57, 992-999. See also Larimer, M.E., Malone, D.K., Garner, M.D., et al. (2009). Health Care and Public 

Service Use and Costs Before and After Provision of Housing for Chronically Homeless Persons with Severe Alcohol Problems. The 

Journal of the American Medical Association, 301(13), 1349-1357. 3 Barnett, J. C. and Vornovitsky, M. S. (2016). Current Population Reports, P60-257, Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 

2015, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC. Retrieved from: 

http://www.census.gov/library/publications/2016/demo/p60-257.html
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care services on a fee-for-service basis or through capitated managed care arrangements. Medicaid also makes payments 

linked to quality and value through alternative payment methodologies.4 PFS provides opportunities to extend these 

roles. 

Medicaid is currently providing reimbursement for services for several PFS projects, including the South Carolina NFP 

PFS project, where the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is the outcomes payor.5 Several projects 

in development are exploring the possibility of Medicaid MCOs as potential payors. Whether or not Medicaid MCOs can 

serve as payors depends on several factors, some of which are location specific. For example, in Maryland, Meals on 

Wheels explored the possibility of partnering with a Medicaid MCO, but the MCO does not cover Meals on Wheels’ 

target population. In another example, the service provider has had discussions with both federal Centers for Medicare 

and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the state Medicaid agency about their developing PFS project. It has not yet been 

determined whether a PFS agreement can be executed under current regulations or whether federal approval from CMS 

is needed to make payments to PFS investors without later penalties regarding rate-settings or federal participation in 

Medicaid. 

Medicaid coverage of services can be an important financial sustainability goal for public health programs seeking to 

continue or expand service provision. Medicaid may cover entire PFS health interventions or some of the services that 

comprise those interventions. For example, the Denver Social Impact Bond program aims to improve housing stability 

and reduce criminal justice involvement for 250 chronically homeless adults with mental health and substance abuse 

issues. The project is leveraging Medicaid reimbursement for some of the costs of providing behavioral and physical 

health services to this population.6 In some instances, Medicaid may reimburse for PFS intervention services under the 

existing Medicaid state plan. In other cases, a state plan amendment or Medicaid waiver may be needed. Given that the 

process of obtaining a waiver can be lengthy, state leadership buy-in and a champion at the state Medicaid agency are key 

ingredients. For example, in the South Carolina NFP PFS project, leadership in the state Medicaid agency initiated 

discussions with CMS about its plans to apply for a 1915(b) Medicaid Waiver early in the process and obtained approval 

within approximately six months. The 1915(b) waiver granted to South Carolina in 2016, which runs through 2020, 

allowed for the implementation of enhanced prenatal, postpartum, and infant home visit services that would not 

otherwise have been allowed under the applicable federal regulations. If the project is successful, the Medicaid waiver 

may be renewed for another five years. 

Barriers to Medicaid-PFS partnership

As described above, there have been numerous instances of innovation in the use of PFS to support projects relating to 

healthy futures. However, significant barriers to Medicaid-PFS partnership remain. First, as noted above, states must seek 

approval from the federal government to spend federal Medicaid funds on some non-clinical services. States develop 

their Medicaid programs within federal parameters that define allowable services, and must seek approval from CMS for 

program changes. Because most PFS programs offer a comprehensive array of non-clinical services, it can be challenging 

 

4 Alternative Payment Model Framework and Progress Tracking (APM FPT) Work Group. January 12, 2016. Alternative Payment 

Model (APM) Framework. Final White Paper. Retrieved from: https://hcp-lan.org/workproducts/apm-whitepaper-onepager.pdf 5 Another example is the Massachusetts Chronic Homelessness Pay for Success Initiative. See Garvey, M. (2015), Pay For Success in 

the U.S.: Summaries of Financed Projects, Institute for Child Success, December. Retrieved from: 

http://www.payforsuccess.org/sites/default/files/summary_of_pay_for_success_social_impact_bonds_Massachusetts_homelessness.pd

f

6 Nonprofit Finance Fund. Denver Social Impact Bond Initiative: Permanent Supportive Housing. Retrieved from: 

http://www.nonprofitfinancefund.org/sites/default/files/docs/2016/Denver%20SIB%20Summary_NFF2.pdf
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to determine the appropriate Medicaid authorities and payment mechanisms that may allow PFS programs to be financed 

with federal Medicaid funds. 

As states expand their use of Medicaid managed care, there is another challenge: the incentives for managed care 

organizations, providers, and state Medicaid agency payors do not always align. Since PFS programs are often premised 

on the expectation of long-term cost savings as a result of preventive services, CMS, Medicaid MCOs, and state Medicaid 

agencies will need to negotiate both how up-front costs will be paid, and how long-term savings will be shared. MCOs or 

other Medicaid intermediaries who receive capitated payments may be concerned that their reimbursement rates will fall 

when savings are realized. Medicaid MCOs are required to cover certain preventive services, but these may or may not be 

the services included in a particular PFS program. 

4. Early Insights on PFS in Health Care

Although PFS is still a young model and much remains to be discovered and verified, early insights from implementers 

and stakeholders point to how and why many kinds of health-related interventions may be a good fit for PFS. We 

identified key emerging themes related to providers, the PFS model, and the health care environment to consider when 

planning health-related PFS projects. These insights are summarized below. 

Evaluating the local environment for a health-related PFS project

Payment reform is underway and varies by state. Discussants noted that ongoing payment reforms are underway as

Medicaid shifts from a fee-for-service reimbursement system to value-based performance payments. There is substantial 

variation in how health care is paid for in different states. The potential alignment between payment reforms and PFS 

must be further explored to identify when and where such reforms create opportunities for PFS health projects to 

advance. Service providers with multiple U.S. locations may be able to seize opportunities in areas where the alignment 

supports a PFS project.

State PFS champions improve the odds of success. The involvement of leaders at various levels of government is key to 

gain support for PFS whether the project is health-related or not. But for projects seeking Medicaid involvement in 

particular, having state Medicaid agency support and leadership involvement is essential. As described earlier, the South 

Carolina State Medicaid leadership worked with CMS before submitting an application for the waiver. This helped 

expedite the process so that the turnaround time for review and approval was relatively short. 

Considerations for selecting the intervention and structuring the PFS project

Strong evidence for the effectiveness of the intervention is a key factor for readiness to engage in PFS. All three 

projects profiled in this brief deliver interventions with evidence that the services are effective in both improving health 

outcomes and producing cost savings. This evidence is from widely accepted sources including outcome evaluations, 

randomized controlled trials, longitudinal analysis of service utilization records with client data, and actuarial analyses. 

These sources have been used to make the business case for their programs to demonstrate the value of their interventions 

for clients and health care cost savings. Having credible research on the demonstrated health outcomes and cost savings 

associated with their program has facilitated their readiness for and engagement in PFS. As one PFS project implementer 

said, “Starting from scratch, without the evidence base, would be a big lift....”

The unique concerns of health care service providers and payors require careful consideration to ensure that PFS does 

not inadvertently create barriers or disincentives to participation. As described above, MCOs, who might usefully serve 

as payors for PFS projects, may be wary of projects that address preventative care like the three profiled here because too 
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much cost savings may mean that Medicaid capitation rates would be lowered over time as cost savings are realized. 

CMS, State Medicaid agencies, and MCOs will need to engage in ongoing discussions about sharing risks and savings 

accrued through PFS programs. 

The health care system is heavily regulated, which may increase the complexity of PFS projects. Complexities related 

to Medicaid have been discussed. But private payors, too, must comply with myriad regulatory requirements, including 

those surrounding data security under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Regardless of 

the payor, projects will often be required to develop or adapt mechanisms to track program operations’ compliance, 

which is particularly complicated in this policy domain, and therefore might not be able to be modeled on other, nonhealth PFS projects. 

PFS supports scaling services to reach a larger segment of the target population. PFS implementers point out that a 

minimum project scale is needed to make the effort of a PFS project pay off. For example, in two locations NFP did not 

pursue potential PFS projects because the population in need of services was too small to justify the effort and costs 

involved with structuring a PFS project. Further, a rigorous evaluation requires a robust number of participants to 

demonstrate outcomes. 

Considerations for partnering with Medicaid

Medicaid’s potential as a payor is both tremendously promising and complex. One out of every six dollars spent on 

health care in the United States is spent by Medicaid, making it an enormously consequential player in the health care 

space. However, since each state administers its own Medicaid program (subject to federal requirements), it is more 

accurate to say that there are many dozens of different “Medicaids” than it is to refer to Medicaid as a monolithic 

program. As such, many questions regarding Medicaid’s role as a payor in PFS projects will have to be resolved on a 

state-by-state or even project-by-project level. The three profiled organizations explored Medicaid’s potential roles within 

their specific state contexts during their PFS projects’ assessment phases.

A state’s Medicaid eligibility rules are a key element in assessing potential alignment with a PFS project. Whether or 

not a state chose to expand Medicaid eligibility affects which individuals are able to enroll in Medicaid coverage. Before 

inviting Medicaid to partner, PFS projects will want to assess to what extent their own target populations overlap with 

populations served by a state’s Medicaid program. 

Previous provider experience with Medicaid is helpful for projects considering involvement of Medicaid in a PFS 

project. Developing the expertise and systems needed by service providers to bill Medicaid for services takes time and 

effort and may be too burdensome for service providers also undertaking a PFS project. 

Service providers assessing feasibility of PFS may benefit from having a partner with expertise in Medicaid and PFS. 

Given the complexities of Medicaid and the unique state Medicaid programs, such experts can help with identifying the 

target population; assessing related eligibility, enrollment, and capacity issues; understanding the Medicaid system and 

how Medicaid is organized and financed in a particular state; and other current health care initiatives underway that may 

result in opportunities or challenges. All three of the projects profiled work with a partner with specific expertise in 

Medicaid.

Dedicating appropriate resources to PFS project development

Because it is a newly emerging and still-evolving model, the time and complexity involved in PFS projects can be 

daunting for first-time implementers. Discussants observed that organizations that are interested in pursuing a PFS 

project should anticipate “a long and challenging road” ahead. Indeed, to successfully complete a PFS project, 
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organizations must commit significant financial, human, and systemic resources to their efforts. For example, PFS 

intermediaries estimate that PFS project implementers should plan for at least six to nine months to complete the 

feasibility assessment. Commitment to the PFS project is critical to its continued progress and ultimate success, so 

organizations should enter the process with a clear understanding of what is involved, and an internal commitment to see 

the process through. 

PFS project implementers should plan to dedicate resources to educating stakeholders. Although not specific to healthrelated PFS projects, it is important to note that all three PFS projects profiled in this brief reported that potential 

investors, payors, and other stakeholders were often only loosely familiar with PFS, and that securing commitments 

therefore involved explaining details of the PFS model. It also involved describing the benefits of the intervention to the 

end payor including the intervention’s evidence base, its alignment with the payors’ policy priorities, benefits to the 

target population, and future cost savings that may result from the intervention. In locations where PFS projects have 

already been implemented or are under development, stakeholders may be much more familiar with PFS, which 

streamlines this process. 

There is value in sharing best practices across PFS implementers. Organizations embarking on a PFS project in the 

future will be able to build upon what has worked well for PFS project implementers thus far. Future projects would 

benefit from a coordinated effort to share best practices. Likewise, stakeholders of existing projects can provide valuable 

direction and insights for organizations in early stages of exploring a PFS project. For example, state Medicaid agencies 

seeking waivers from CMS in order to support PFS health projects could work to replicate South Carolina’s successful 

process including the state’s consultations with CMS experts during waiver development. 

CNCS’ SIF PFS Grant Program has shared knowledge about best practices by creating a cohort of PFS project 

implementers. CNCS facilitates communication among this cohort via convenings, webinars, and materials that offer 

opportunities to share developments and successes in the field as they unfold. Other agencies do this as well. One recent

example is the National Institute for Health Care Management (NIHCM) Foundation’s webinar on PFS as a new financing 

model and its potential benefits in expanding access to early childhood interventions that improve outcomes for children, 

often while reducing government spending. Several service providers, intermediaries, and contractors that are currently 

engaged in PFS also offer materials online. In the future, a cohort of implementers and stakeholders working on healthrelated PFS projects could collectively work through challenges unique to the health care environment.

Taken together, these themes paint a picture of a PFS field very much still in development and being explored in a 

complex and constantly changing health care environment. When these changes are viewed in combination with the 

relative novelty of the PFS model itself, the general picture that emerges is one of a landscape as open to possibility as it is 

quickly evolving. 

About this Brief

This research was commissioned by CNCS as a component of the CNCS Process Evaluation of the SIF 

PFS Grant Program. Other topics have included Pay for Success Financial Mechanisms and Service 

Provider Capacity Building for a Pay for Success Project (both published in September 2015). These briefs, 

and other process evaluation reports, are available online at: 

http://www.nationalservice.gov/programs/social-innovation-fund/our-programs/sif-pay-success/paysuccess-national-evaluation 
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Appendix A. Pay for Success Project Profiles

Baltimore Green & Healthy Homes Initiative (GHHI) Pay for Success Project

Project Name Baltimore GHHI PFS Project

Lead agency name • GHHI

Intermediary • Social Finance 

Project status • Transaction structuring

• Seeking state Medicaid agency approval to authorize Johns Hopkins Medicaid 

MCO (Priority Partners MCO) to enter into a PFS contract, allowing them to 

cull savings and use those savings to make PFS outcomes payments. 

Health issue(s) being addressed • Reducing the incidence of asthma caused by unhealthy housing 

Project objective(s) • Cost reductions from avoided asthma-related hospitalizations and emergency 

department visits through reducing home-based asthma triggers and 

providing asthma care management in the home. 

• Improve health outcomes for low-income families and reduce public and 

private costs to the health care and energy production sectors by combining 

health and energy housing interventions into an efficient delivery model.

• Scale and sustain GHHI’s program. 

Intervention • GHHI manages a direct service program in Baltimore that combines in-home 

technical intervention with in-depth and personalized behavioral education 

for the family. After a family is referred to GHHI, the organization begins a 

long-term relationship with the family in their home, including an initial inhome assessment and educational session, an intervention to remove known 

asthma triggers, and follow-up sessions throughout the year to ensure the 

family is maintaining the home to GHHI’s standards. Interventions may 

include: carpet removal, roof repair, pest management, and other related 

evidence-based interventions. 

Service provider • GHHI will conduct the asthma reduction intervention. 

• Johns Hopkins Hospital and Healthcare System – Medicaid MCO (Priority 

Partners MCO) will provide care management services, medical services and 

referrals to GHHI.

Target population • Project will serve approximately 1,200 – 1,500 members of Hopkins Medicaid 

MCO (across 3 years) who have been in the emergency room or hospitalized 

for asthma. 

Geographic area(s) of project • Baltimore City and County, MD and some areas in the surrounding counties. 

Data source(s) for outcomes • Medicaid claims data will be used to determine if the reduction in medical 

costs for the GHHI population was attained. If medical costs are adequately 

reduced, a payment will be triggered from Hopkins Medicaid MCO to the 

investors. 

Outcome metric(s) • The health outcomes, measured in the reduction of utilization across inpatient, 

outpatient, professional services, and other categories, will be evaluated 

quarterly by the Hilltop Institute at the University of Maryland Baltimore 

County using the actual health expenditure data of the children served, from a 

data-sharing agreement with the Maryland Department of Health and Mental 

Hygiene (Maryland’s State Medicaid agency).
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Project Name Baltimore GHHI PFS Project

Evaluation type • Hilltop Institute will evaluate the efficacy of the GHHI program by comparing

the children who have received the intervention with those in two comparison

groups: (1) children who are Hopkins Medicaid MCO members and meet the

eligibility criteria but do not receive the intervention, and (2) children who are

non-Hopkins Medicaid MCO members and meet the criteria but do not

receive the intervention.

Evaluator • Hilltop Institute at the University of Maryland Baltimore County

Payor(s) • Hopkins Medicaid MCO (“Priority Partners” MCO)

Investor(s) • Two major investment firms and two national foundations. (Names to be

released at closing)

Entities/organization(s) benefiting from the 

realized savings from this project

• Hopkins Medicaid MCO (Priority Partners MCO)

• State Medicaid

• CMS/Federal Medicaid

• Schools

• Workplaces

Where to find more information about this 

project

Green & Healthy Homes Initiative website

http://www.greenandhealthyhomes.org/get-help/pay-success
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South Carolina Nurse-Family Partnership Pay for Success Project

Project Name Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) – South Carolina

Lead agency name • South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (SC DHHS)

• NFP

Intermediary • Social Finance - PFS intermediary

• NFP - provider intermediary

Project status • Launched April 2016

Health issue(s) being addressed • Maternal and child health

Project objective(s) • Support the health and development of first-time mothers and their children

• Build a pathway to sustainability for NFP in South Carolina

• Evaluate effectiveness of efficiencies in NFP model

Intervention • Home visiting for vulnerable first-time parents with registered nurses from early

pregnancy through child’s second birthday

Service provider • NFP implementing agencies

Target population and estimated number

served/to be served

• Project aims to enroll 3,200 first-time pregnant mothers and their children over 4

years. Services to be delivered over 5- 6 years.

Geographic area(s) of project • 28 of 46 counties in South Carolina

Data source(s) for outcomes • Multiple, including: vital statistics birth records, baseline survey, Medicaid

enrollment and claims, and all-payer health utilization data

Outcome metric(s) or Payment metric(s ) • Reduction in preterm births

• Reduction in child hospitalization and emergency department usage due to injury

• Increase in healthy spacing between births

• Increase the number of first-time mothers served living in high-poverty zip codes

Evaluation type • Randomized controlled trial, which will evaluate how well NFP is working and

whether a 25 percent reduction in the cost of services combined with model

modernization affects outcomes for mothers and children

Evaluator • J-PAL North America

Payor(s) • SC DHHS will make up to $7.5 million in success payments to sustain NFP’s

services (based on positive evaluation results).

Investor(s) • Philanthropic funders have committed $17 million to the project: BlueCross

BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation, The Boeing Company, The Duke

Endowment, Greenville, SC First Steps, and a consortium of private funders.

Entities/organization(s) benefiting from the 

realized savings from this project

• Families and communities

• SC DHHS

• Federal government

Where to find more information about this 

project

NFP website: http://www.nursefamilypartnership.org/

South Carolina NFP PFS project fact sheet

https://www.scdhhs.gov/sites/default/files/2-16-16-SC-NFP-PFS-Fact-Sheet_3.pdf

PFS Contract between SC DHHS, NFP and The Children’s Trust Fund of SC

https://www.scdhhs.gov/sites/default/files/2016_0321_AMENDED%20NFP%20PFS%20

Contract_vFinal%20Executed.pdf

Approved 1915(b) Medicaid waiver

https://www.medicaid.gov/Medicaid-CHIP-Program-Information/ByTopics/Waivers/Downloads/SC_Enhanced-Prenatal-Postpartum-Home-VisitationManaged-Care.pdf
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Meals on Wheels America Social Impact Bond Transaction

Project Name Meals on Wheels America Social Impact Bond (SIB) Transaction

Lead agency name • Meals on Wheels America

Intermediary • Quantified Ventures LLC

Project status • Feasibility assessment completed January 2016

• Transaction structuring

• Targeting a Spring 2017 project launch

Health issue(s) being addressed • Senior health issues: food security, nutrition, safety and fall prevention, and

social isolation.

Project objective(s) • PFS project will measure the impact on the reduction in utilization of acute

healthcare services in a hospital system.

• Scale services to reach an increasingly vulnerable, aging population that wants to

remain healthy and independent for as long as possible.

• Build a replicable model to bring to other Meals on Wheels member organizations

• Demonstrate intervention effectiveness to hospital systems to influence and

improve meal delivery contracts.

Intervention • Senior support services: a combination of daily home-delivered meals,

socialization, case management with an enhanced in-home assessment, safety

checks with minor home repairs, and referrals.

Service provider • Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland

Target population • Seniors living in poverty, predominantly in Baltimore, who are identified as “atrisk” by hospital system (payor) and who are greatly impacted by the threat of

food insecurity and its resultant health and mental health conditions

• Project will serve approximately 600 individuals over three years.

Geographic area(s) of project • Baltimore Metro Area

Data source(s) for outcomes • Hospital claims data

Outcome metric(s) • 1) Reduction in emergency department visits

• 2) Reduction in hospital admissions and average length of stay

• 3) Reduction in hospital 30-day readmissions

• Secondary outcomes to be measured include weight maintenance, mental health,

treatment and medication compliance, disease management, increased social

engagement, and management of personal health.

Evaluation type • Randomized controlled trial comparing intervention group receiving full

intervention, intervention group receiving once-weekly delivered frozen meals,

and a control group receiving the standard care in place at the time of project

launch.

Evaluator • Currently finalizing selection of independent evaluator – strong interest

expressed

Payor(s) • Currently finalizing arrangements with hospital system(s) to serve as endpayor(s)

Investor(s) • Investors prioritized and will be selected after the payor and evaluator have been

secured

Entities/organization(s) benefiting from the 

realized savings from this project

• Hospital system(s)7

Where to find more information about this 

project

• Lucy Theilheimer, lucy@mealsonwheelsamerica.org, (571) 339-1601

7 Information about the Global Budget Revenue system in Maryland can be found at: http://www.hscrc.state.md.us/gbr-tpr.cfm
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Appendix B. Health Policy Glossary

1915(b) Medicaid Waiver. A 1915(b) Medicaid waiver is a waiver granted by CMS to a state Medicaid agency in order to 

waive the Medicaid requirement that enrollees have “freedom of choice” of health care providers. Historically, states have 

used 1915(b) waivers to allow the use of MCOs and their limited provider networks in a state Medicaid program. The 

1915(b) waiver granted to South Carolina in 2016, running through 2020, allowed for the implementation of enhanced 

prenatal, postpartum, and infant home visit services that would not otherwise have been allowed under the applicable 

federal regulations.

Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). ACOs, like MCOs, are collectives of health care providers who are both 

collectively responsible for the provision of care to a given population and collectively entitled to any cost savings if they 

are able to identify and obtain them. They are distinguished from MCOs in that ACO patients are generally able to move 

out of network for care, and in that providers are generally responsible for only a portion of the total cost of care, rather 

than any amount not provided on a per capita basis.

Affordable Care Act. The “Affordable Care Act,” also known as the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” 

(PPACA) is a 2010 law which dramatically reformed the U.S. health care system. The law contained a wide range of 

provisions, but most fundamentally it (a) expanded access to health insurance through tax subsidies to individuals to 

purchase insurance, an expansion of Medicaid, and the creation of state- or federally-run insurance exchanges, and (b) 

introduced a range of programs and policies intended to reform the way the federal government reimburses health care 

providers for their services.

Capitation. A payment arrangement for health care service providers in which providers are paid a set amount for each 

enrolled person assigned to them, per period of time, whether or not that person seeks care.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS is the agency within HHS that is responsible, among other 

things, for the federal administration of Medicaid (including the approval of Section 1115 waivers), and also houses the 

Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. This latter group, created under the terms of the Affordable Care Act, is 

responsible for testing new and innovative payment and delivery system models that show potential for improving the 

quality of care in Medicaid and other programs, whilst simultaneously slowing the rate of growth in program costs.

HIPAA. HIPAA, or the “Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act” is a 1996 law that, broadly speaking, both 

(a) provides individuals the ability to transfer health insurance after job loss, and (b) sets standards for the protection and

confidentiality of health and health billing information.

Managed Care Organizations (MCOs). Managed Care is a health care delivery system organized to manage cost, 

utilization, and quality. Medicaid managed care provides for the delivery of Medicaid health benefits and additional 

services through contracted arrangements between state Medicaid agencies and managed care organizations (MCOs) that 

accept a set per member per month (capitation) payment for these services.

Medicaid. The Medicaid program was enacted as part of the Social Security Amendments of 1965 (P.L. 89-97). Medicaid is 

a joint federal- state health insurance program for low-income U.S. citizens or permanent residents, their children, and 

certain citizens or permanent residents with disabilities. Although the federal government contributes a minimum of 50 

percent of Medicaid funding for health services and program administration (the figure varies from state to state), states 

retain broad freedom to establish their own eligibility standards, their own provider certification structures, and their 

own administrative systems.
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Medicaid Expansion. Under the terms of the Affordable Care Act, the federal government mandated that states certify as 

eligible individuals and families earning incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty line, and promised to cover 100 

percent of the costs for newly-covered individuals through the year 2016, and no less than 90 percent thereafter. Under 

the terms of NFIB vs. Sebelius (2012), however, the Supreme Court ruled that states were not required to meet the federal 

government’s mandate, and in the years since only 31 states (plus the District of Columbia) have fully implemented the 

Medicaid expansion. 

Section 1115 Medicaid Waiver. A Section 1115 waiver, also known as a “Medicaid Demonstration” waiver, is a waiver 

granted by CMS to a state Medicaid agency, in order to allow the state to experiment with finance and delivery initiatives 

that are not otherwise allowed by federal statute. Section 1115 waivers are required to be budget-neutral for the federal 

government. Under these terms, 30 states (plus the District of Columbia) currently operate one or more Section 1115 

Medicaid waivers. 

Triple Aim. The “triple aim” is the generally agreed-upon aim of health policymakers to (a) improve patient experience 

of care while simultaneously (b) improving the overall health of the target population and (c) reducing the per capita cost 

of health care provision. Many of the Affordable Care Act’s reforms—and therefore of the Innovation Center’s pilot 

programs—aim to unify responsibility for all three aims under a single programmatic or policy roof, instead of keeping 

the three goals separate.
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Appendix C. Pay for Success Glossary

Independent evaluator An independent organization that assesses performance data and conducts an evaluation 

of intervention outcomes and impacts. 

Intermediary The entity most often responsible for overall project management/coordination, investor 

recruitment, and negotiation of contracts among payors, service providers, and investors 

in PFS projects. Intermediaries are typically responsible for entering into direct contracts 

with the government funder, liaising with potential investors to secure capital 

commitments to the transaction, and serving as the primary liaison among key players in 

the PFS relationship. 

The term has a distinct meaning in the CNCS SIF PFS Grant Program, where SIF grantees 

act as intermediaries who provide funding and/or technical assistance to selected subs. 

Other Terms Used: Transaction coordinator, project coordinator, government advisor, 

placement agent

Intervention A model or program that offers a discrete set of products and/or services to address a 

specific social issue or challenge. 

Other Terms Used: Program model

Investor Individuals or commercial, philanthropic, or community development organizations 

providing upfront capital that enables service providers to deliver services over the term 

of the PFS contract.

Payor The entity that is ultimately responsible for paying investors proportional to the agreed 

amount based on the level of measureable impact achieved. In the majority of cases, the 

PFS payor is a government agency.

Other Terms Used: Payer, lead organization, outcome payor, back-end payor, end payor, 

government payor

Pay for Success financing The provision of upfront capital to cover the cost of the intervention deployed through a 

PFS project and, in some cases, to cover related costs of the PFS project (e.g., evaluation). 

The principal investment is only returned (and possible additional returns are only 

distributed) when pre-determined outcome goals are met. 

Service provider The entity that delivers a specific intervention financed by the PFS transaction in order to 

achieve predefined and agreed upon outcomes and/or impacts. 

Other Terms Used: Social service provider

Target population People being served by PFS interventions.
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Appendix D. Resources and References

Berenson, Robert A. and Nicole Cafarella. “The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation: Activity on Many Fronts.” 

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, February 2012. http://www.rwjf.org/content/dam/web-assets/2012/02/the-centerfor-medicare-and-medicaid-innovation 

Gold, Jenny. “Accountable Care Organizations, Explained.” The Kaiser Family Foundation, September 2015.

http://khn.org/news/aco-accountable-care-organization-faq/

Kaiser Family Foundation. “Five Key Questions and Answers about Section 1115 Medicaid Demonstration Waivers.” The 

Kaiser Family Foundation, June 2011 https://kaiserfamilyfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/8196.pdf

Kaiser Family Foundation. “Emerging Medicaid Accountable Care Organizations: The Role of Managed Care.” The Kaiser

Family Foundation, May 2012. https://kaiserfamilyfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/8319.pdf

Kaiser Family Foundation. “Summary of the Affordable Care Act.” The Kaiser Family Foundation, April 2013. 

http://kff.org/health-reform/fact-sheet/summary-of-the-affordable-care-act/

Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC), “Medicaid 101.” MACPAC website:

https://www.macpac.gov/medicaid-101/

Nonprofit Finance Fund. “Pay for Success: The First Generation.” Nonprofit Finance Fund, April 2016. 

http://www.payforsuccess.org/sites/default/files/Pay%20for%20Success_The%20First%20Generation_0.pdf

South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. “Section 1915(b) Waiver Proposal For MCO, PIHP, PAHP, 

PPCM Programs And FFS Selective Contracting Programs.” Medicaid.gov, December 2015. 

https://www.medicaid.gov/Medicaid-CHIP-Program-Information/By-Topics/Waivers/ Downloads/SC_EnhancedPrenatal-Postpartum-Home-Visitation-Managed-Care.pdf 

Synder, Laura and Robin Rudowitz. “Medicaid Financing: How Does It Work and What are the Implications?” The Kaiser 

Family Foundation, May 2015. http://kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/medicaid-financing-how-does-it-work-and-what-arethe-implications/
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