Dive Brief:
- This week, CMS announced 121 new participants have joined Medicare Accountable Care Organization (ACO) initiatives, meaning 49 states and D.C. are now represented by ACOs.
- Of those participants, 21 have joined the new Next Generation ACO Model, in which participants take on increased financial risk in exchange for a greater opportunity to share in any savings.
- CMS added in the announcement in total, there are now 477 ACOs nationwide participating in all of the CMS ACO programs (SSP, Pioneer ACO Model, Next Generation ACO Model, and Comprehensive ESRD Care Model) and 64 of those ACOs are in a risk-bearing track.
Dive Insight:
The previous ACO models have had mixed results, with the original Pioneer model having lost 13 of its 32 initial participants -- some of which switched to the lower-risk Shared Savings model, as MedPageToday notes. CMS says its newest model builds on its experience from both of those.
“[T]he new model offers a new opportunity in accountable care -- one that enables providers and beneficiaries greater opportunities to coordinate care and aims to attain the highest quality standards of care," CMS stated. "Unlike other models, this model includes a prospectively (rather than retrospectively) set benchmark, allows beneficiaries to choose to be aligned to the ACO, and tests beneficiary incentives for seeking care at Next Generation providers, including increased availability of telehealth and care coordination services.”
CMS added 100 new ACOs were joining the Shared Savings program as of Jan. 1. "With the new group of ACOs, CMS will have 434 ACOs participating in the Shared Savings Program next year, serving more than 7.7 million beneficiaries," it says.