CMS Announces Cost Savings from ACOs, Physician Group Practice Demonstration

Interim financial results for the Medicare Shared Savings Program Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) show that, in their first 12 months, nearly half (54 out of 114) of the ACOs that started program operations in 2012 already had lower expenditures than projected, states a January 30, 2014, CMS press release. Of the 54 ACOs that exceeded their benchmarks in the first 12 months, 29 generated shared savings totaling more than $126 million, as well as a total of $128 million in net savings for the Medicare Trust Funds.