Analysis: COVID-19 could raise Medicare spending by as much as $115B over next year

The COVID-19 outbreak will potentially boost Medicare spending over the next year from $38.5 billion to $115.4 billion, a new analysis found.

The analysis released Wednesday by the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations also found that the increase in spending would lead to major losses for ACOs in models that take on financial risk. It also found a major burden on Medicare Advantage plans.

“We are just on the tip the iceberg of a global, public health pandemic that is out of ACOs’ control. We could see generated savings wiped out, massive penalties, and worst of all, ACOs dropping out of the program to avoid losses,” said Clif Gaus, NAACOS president and CEO, in a statement.

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