Medicare Accountable Care Organizations Generated $1.7 Billion in Savings Last Year
National Association of ACOs Calls on CMS to Grow Participation and Sustain Savings Potential
WASHINGTON – The Medicare Shared Savings Program, the accountable care organization (ACO) model serving nearly 11 million seniors and the dominant value-based care program in Medicare, continued its trend of lowering the rate of Medicare spending while providing high-quality care, as evidenced by 2018 performance data released today by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
ACOs collectively saved Medicare $1.7 billion last year alone, and $739 million after accounting for shared savings bonuses and collecting shared loss payments. The results continue a strong and growing trend of the Medicare ACO program saving money. Results for all 2018 Shared Savings Program ACOs, which compare the year’s spending to pre-set spending targets, are available in an online public use data file.
“These numbers put to rest any notion that ACO savings are ‘modest’ and illustrate the strong performance of the leading Medicare alternative payment model,” said Clif Gaus, Sc.D., president and CEO of the National Association of ACOs (NAACOS). "Given time, we know ACOs save money and provide benefit for patients and taxpayers."
