US Drafts Accountable Care Organization Rules
The Obama administration recently proposed much-anticipated rules to spur controversial changes in the way health care for older Americans is organized and paid for. The rules lay out a path for doctors, hospitals, and other care providers to form teams called “accountable care organizations (ACOs),’’ which advocates say would save money by better coordinating services for Medicare patients. ACOs are run by doctors or hospitals, rather than by insurance companies.
Under the rules, teams that treat patients for less money would be rewarded financially by the government if they meet certain measures of quality. Older organizations will, from the first year, have the potential to save or lose money, depending on whether they can provide care less expensively than under Medicare fee-for-service rates. Newer organizations, however, will be shielded from any downside risk for the first two years.
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