ACOs Fear Direct Contracting Options Stray Too Far From Providers

Value-based providers, like accountable care organizations (ACOs), may be at a disadvantage under new direct contracting options in Medicare that allow for a broad range of healthcare organizations to participate, according to the National Association of ACOs (NAACOS).

In a letter to CMS Innovation Center Director Brad Smith, the industry group called for changes to both the Professional and Global Options of Medicare’s Direct Contracting Model to ensure “equal opportunity for success for both organizations that have participated in prior Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) accountable care initiatives and those organizations that are wholly new to such programs.”

“Unfortunately, the financial specifications, as currently laid out, will disenfranchise legacy ACOs that have worked for nearly a decade in some cases to lower the cost of care in their communities,” NAACOS president and CEO Clif Gaus, ScD, wrote in the letter.

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