CMS: Medicare ACOs save $1.9B in 2020

Accountable care organizations in the Medicare Shared Savings Program generated $1.9 billion in total net savings to Medicare in 2020, the fourth straight year of savings, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced today. In addition, 88% of ACOs in two-sided models (potential for shared savings or losses) earned shared savings payments, and 55% of ACOs in one-sided models (potential for shared savings only) earned shared savings payments.
 
“We have heard from ACOs that their work to coordinate care and improve quality enabled them to better respond to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Meena Seshamani, M.D., CMS deputy administrator and director of the Center for Medicare. “They were able to work quickly to transition to telehealth and continue to provide needed access to care, and they were able to provide the team-based services needed to address the full spectrum of issues arising from the pandemic, ranging from community prevention and health-related social needs to end-of-life support for patients and their families.”