Accountable Care Organizations

Medicare ACO Enrollment Did Not Improve Mental Healthcare Outcomes

November 28, 2023 - Medicare beneficiaries newly enrolled in accountable care organizations (ACOs) did not see any improvements in their depression and anxiety symptoms, suggesting Medicare ACOs may need better incentives to improve mental healthcare, a study published in Health Affairs found. ACOs are now the dominant care model in traditional Medicare, with around...


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CVS Health ACO Partnership Expands Value-Based Care in Long Island

by Victoria Bailey

CVS Health is partnering with Catholic Health to expand value-based care for Medicare beneficiaries through the ACO Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health (REACH) program. Under the ACO REACH...

CareFirst, Aledade Partnership to Help PCPs with Value-Based Care

by Sarai Rodriguez

CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (CareFirst) has formed a strategic alliance with Aledade, Inc. (Aledade), offering independent primary care physicians tools and resources to improve healthcare...

Elevance Health ACO Generated Cost Savings Among Fully Insured Members

by Victoria Bailey

Elevance Health’s commercial accountable care organization (ACO) program was associated with significant cost savings between 2016 and 2021, particularly among the fully insured population,...

How One Medicaid Program May Prevent Coverage Loss Post-COVID

by Kelsey Waddill

The Massachusetts Medicaid program can use a variety of strategies that it might implement in order to reduce coverage loss after the public health emergency lifts, according to a brief from the Blue...

AHIP, Other Stakeholders Support Medicare Value-Based Care Bill

by Kelsey Waddill

In a joint letter to the four representatives who introduced the bill in the House of Representatives, payer and provider organizations have thrown their support behind the Value in Health Care Act of...

Aetna Offers Atlanta Employers Fully-Insured, Self-Insured Plans

by Kelsey Waddill

Aetna Whole Health will offer employers access to self-insured and fully-insured plan options that focus on better care coordination through accountable care organizations (ACOs) and incorporating...

Data Sharing, Teamwork Essential to Pediatric Value-Based Care

by Kelsey Waddill

Cooperation with providers and data sharing are key to success in pediatric value-based care, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey (BCBSNJ)’s 2018 care quality results show. “Horizon...

51% of ACOs Likely to Exit MSSP Due to Downside Risk Requirements

by Jessica Kent

Just over half of accountable care organizations (ACOs) said they would consider leaving the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) if required to take on more downside risk, revealed a study published...

Majority of States Have Committed to Value-Based Care, Payment Reform

by Jessica Kent

There has been significant growth in the number of states and territories implementing value-based care models in the last five years, with a total of 48 committing to payment reform nationwide,...

ACOs Call for Transparency in CMS Alternative Payment Model Design

by Jessica Kent

The National Association of ACOs (NAACOS) has urged the CMS Innovation Center to improve transparency throughout the process of releasing and updating alternative payment models. “While we...

Humana, Aledade Bring Value-Based Care to Medicare Advantage Members

by Jessica Kent

Humana and Aledade have announced a value-based care agreement that will increase access to value-based care for Medicare Advantage members. The partnership will enable physicians in Aledade’s...

Atrius Health, Blue Cross to Create Alternative Payment Model

by Jessica Kent

Atrius Health and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts have partnered to launch an advanced alternative payment model that will deliver a higher quality, more affordable healthcare experience. In...

Blue Cross of NC, Major Health Systems Partner for Value-Based Care

by Jennifer Bresnick

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina has launched Blue Premier, a new value-based care model that increases accountability for participating providers and their accountable care organizations...

Payers See Cost, Quality Gains with Value-Based Payment Models

by Thomas Beaton

Payers and providers participating in value-based payment models are seeing reduced costs and improvements in care quality.   Value-based payment, which is expected to account for 59 percent of...

Next Generation ACO Model Saved Medicare $62M in 2016

by Thomas Beaton

Next Generation Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) saved the Medicare program $62 million during their first year of operation in 2016, encouraging CMS to expand downside risk models across...

MedPAC: Value-Based Payment, Post-Acute Care Boost Medicare Savings

by Thomas Beaton

MedPAC has advised Congress that value-based payment reform and encouraging the use of post-acute care can help the Medicare program increase savings and improve beneficiary outcomes, the group said in...

MSSP ACOs Taking on Downside Risk See Smaller Savings

by Thomas Beaton

Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) ACOs that take on downside risk generate smaller savings than upside risk ACOs, according a Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform (CHQPR) analysis. In...

How Payers Can Effectively Scale Value-Based Care Networks

by Thomas Beaton

Value-based care networks are a promising opportunity for payers that want to manage costs and improve outcomes of beneficiaries.  But effectively scaling collaborative, risk-based reimbursement...

CMS Value-Based Payment Programs Show Satisfactory Performance

by Thomas Beaton

CMS value-based payment programs, including Medicare accountable care organization (ACO) initiatives, have met many of their goals in recent program years, although some work remains to accelerate...