Pioneer ACO Program Saves $384 Million, OK’d for Expansion

Medicare’s accountable care organization model has notched sufficient savings to meet the agency’s criteria for expansion to a larger population of beneficiaries.

The Pioneer ACO model, a controversial Medicare program geared to incent doctors and hospitals to improve quality and reduce costs and redundant care, in two years saved more than $300 per year for each of the 600,000 beneficiaries enrolled and is ready to be scaled up, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services officials said Monday.

Pioneer ACO Program Saves $384 Million, OK’d for Expansion