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Changes announced to ACO REACH model for 2025 and 2026 will disincentivize providers from achieving meaningful improvements across the quintuple aim, according to Gary Jacobs, executive director at VillageMD’s Center for Public Policy.
The VillageMD accountable care organization is a primary care physician-led ACO that has been successful in the full risk and value-based ACO REACH (Accountable Care Organization Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health) model, according to Jacobs.
In July, the CMS Innovation Center announced several changes that Jacobs said are due to an evaluation done in 2022 of the former direct contracting model that ACO REACH replaced. The evaluation was the catalyst for these changes, he said. It didn’t show savings anticipated.
The bottom line is the CMMI models need to save Medicare money.
But the changes make it less attractive to participate, said Jacobs, who cowrote “Closing the Gap In Value-Based Care: Incorporating Lessons From Provider-Led ACO Experience,” published on August 6 in Health Affairs.