The Heart of Healthcare | A Digital Health Podcast

Where Healthcare Policy Is Headed | Chief Counselor at HHS, Chris Klomp

Mar 23, 2026
Chris Klomp, Medicare director and former digital health founder, brings startup smarts to federal health policy. He talks about restoring trust across providers and payers. He explains why value-based care lags and how the Access model aims to be deflationary. He outlines plans to make prior authorization invisible, push strong data interoperability, and reshape drug pricing globally.
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INSIGHT

Restoring Trust Is The Primary Lever

  • Restoring trust between providers and payers is the single most important lever to improve health outcomes.
  • Chris Klomp argues trust plus aligned outcomes lets CMS refocus from fraud policing to enabling healthier lives for 170M beneficiaries.
INSIGHT

Why Value Based Care Stalled

  • About 90% of U.S. healthcare still operates fee-for-service despite two decades of reform.
  • Klomp attributes this to lack of trust, complexity, and insufficient provider tools and balance sheets to absorb VBC timing and risk.
ADVICE

Simplify Risk Corridors To Spark Participation

  • Simplify risk corridors and make contracts economically viable to attract provider participation.
  • Klomp wants clearer, durable rules so beneficiaries have meaningful choice and high-value providers can scale competitively.
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