Michigan ACOs reaping millions in savings for Medicare

Michigan's 12 accountable care organizations fared better than national averages in saving Medicare money, generating profits of their own and improving quality, according to data for 2014 from theCenters for Medicare and Medicaid Services and interviews with ACO executives.

While only 32 percent, or 112, of the nation's 353 ACOs saved enough money for Medicare to earn profits last year on the Obamacare program, half of the 12 ACOs based in Michigan made money, accounting for $42.6 million or 10 percent of the total $422 million kept for its owners.

Michigan's 12 ACOs — including the Detroit Medical Center'sMichigan Pioneer ACO, the state's only full-risk ACO — cared for about 266,000 Medicare beneficiaries.

Overall, Medicare ACOs saved Medicare nearly $926 million in 2014, a higher number than the previous two years of the three-year demonstration program, which has been renewed for another three years until 2018.