September 1, 2022 – The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that the Medicare Shared Savings Program, through its work with Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) – groups of doctors, hospitals and other health care providers — saved Medicare money while continuing to deliver high-quality care.
Specifically, the program saved Medicare $1.66 billion in 2021 compared to spending targets. This marks the fifth consecutive year the program has generated overall savings and high-quality performance results.
“This program has delivered more than $1.6 billion in savings and delivered high-quality health care to millions of people,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “Just last month, we proposed ways to further grow and expand this successful program, especially in rural and underserved communities. The Biden-Harris Administration will continue to do everything we can to strengthen Medicare and ensure everyone can access high-quality, affordable health care.”
Some other information related to ACOS:
Over the past decade, the Shared Savings Program has grown to one of the largest value-based purchasing programs in the country, CMS said. As of January 2022, Shared Savings Programs include over 525,000 participating clinicians who provide care to more than 11 million people with Medicare.
Based on the program’s success and opportunities to continually improve value for people with Medicare and the health care system, CMS has set a goal that 100% of people with Traditional Medicare will be part of an accountable care relationship by 2030.
Earlier this year, in the Calendar Year (CY) 2023 Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule, CMS proposed changes to the Medicare Shared Savings Program that would promote participation among health care providers, especially in rural and underserved areas. In particular, CMS is proposing to incorporate advance payments to certain new ACOs in rural and underserved communities that could be used to address social needs, one of the first times Traditional Medicare payments would be permitted for such uses.
Nearly all ACOs – 99% – reported and met the quality standard required to share in savings under the Shared Savings Program.
Approximately 58% of participating ACOs earned payments for their performance in 2021. The type of ACOs that saw more net savings tended to be low-revenue, meaning they were mainly made up of physicians, included a small hospital, or served rural areas.