First Year Of ACO Realizing Equity, Access, And Community Health Program Yields Good Quality, Savings Results.

Area of Science:

• Health Policy
• Healthcare Management
• Medicare Programs

Background:

• The Accountable Care Organization Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health (ACO REACH) program, launched in January 2023, is a Medicare Alternative Payment Model.
• It evolved from the Global and Professional Direct Contracting Model, uniquely emphasizing health equity and capitated payments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the initial performance of the ACO REACH program in its first year of operation.
• To analyze beneficiary reach, quality performance, spending benchmarks, and factors influencing savings.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of data from 132 participating ACOs in the first year of the ACO REACH program.
• Examination of Medicare beneficiary numbers, quality metrics for performance bonuses, and Medicare spending benchmarks.

Main Results:

• 132 ACO REACH participants served over two million Medicare beneficiaries.
• Nearly 90% of ACOs met quality standards for performance bonuses.
• Approximately 75% of participants achieved spending below their Medicare benchmark, with average savings observed.

Conclusions:

• The ACO REACH program demonstrated potential for cost savings in its inaugural year.
• ACOs with prior experience and those managing medically complex populations showed higher savings, indicating a need for further investigation into program dynamics.