CMS issued a final rule Dec. 21 that makes sweeping changes to the Medicare Shared Savings Program, including overhauling the way ACOs share in risks and rewards. Here are seven takeaways from the final rule: 1. There are currently four MSSP tracks. The final rule streamlines the program by discontinuing Track 1, a one-sided risk model,…
As the healthcare industry continues the march toward value-based care, CMS has turned a critical eye on one-sided ACO contracts for driving up costs and making little progress toward value. “These ACOs are actually increasing Medicare spending, and the presence of these ‘upside-only’ tracks may be encouraging consolidation in the marketplace, reducing competition and choice…
Medicare accountable care organizations (ACOs) are likely to face an imminent overhaul, according to former leaders of the program. Nancy-Ann DeParle, partner with Consonance Capital and formerly acting administrator of the predecessor agency to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) before serving as an Obama White House senior healthcare adviser, said CMS is…