The Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services reported that 64 of 243 accountable care organizations — a new health care delivery model created by the health law — earned bonuses by saving the Medicare program money. Four ACOs overspent and now owe the government money.
Kaiser Health News: Capsules: One-Quarter Of ACOs Save Enough Money To Earn Bonuses
About a quarter of the 243 groups of hospitals and doctors that banded together as accountable care organizations under the Affordable Care Act saved Medicare enough money to earn bonuses, the Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services announced Tuesday. Those 64 ACOs earned a combined $445 million in bonuses, the agency said. Medicare saved $372 million after accounting for the ACOs that did not show success, including four that overspent significantly and now owe the government money (Rau, 9/16).
The Hill:Â Small Savings Reported From New Health Care Models
New healthcare delivery models established under ObamaCare produced $372 million in savings for the Medicare program, federal health officials said Tuesday. The healthcare law’s accountable care organizations (ACOs) seek to save money and enhance patient care through better coordination among healthcare providers. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said that ACOs in two separate initiatives improved this year on benchmarks for quality and patient satisfaction while saving Medicare money (Viebeck, 9/16).
This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.