Medicare Announces 123 New Accountable Care Organizations For A Total Of More Than 360 ACOs

On December 23, 2013, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it had approved 123 new Medicare Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) for participation in the 2014 Medicare Shared Savings Program. Since passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), more than 360 ACOs have been established, serving over 5.3 million Americans with Medicare. These new ACOs will serve approximately 1.5 million Medicare beneficiaries. ACOs share with Medicare any savings generated from lowering the growth in health care costs when they meet standards for high quality care.

More than half . . .