Study Shows ACOs Saved Medicare $3.53 Billion from 2013 to 2017

NAACOS commissioned Dobson DaVanzo & Associates to conduct an independent evaluation of ACO performance using Medicare claims data from approximately 25 million beneficiaries per year. Their September 2018 report was at the time the largest evaluation to date and used rigorous and widely accepted statistical methods to estimate Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) savings from 2013 to 2015. Dobson DaVanzo & Associates updated that work in December 2018 and December 2019 to include results from 2016 and 2017, respectively. After accounting for the shared-savings payments earned by ACOs, MSSP net savings reached $755 million in the program’s first five full years — not a loss of $70 million as estimated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Since 2013, the first full year of the MSSP, ACOs have saved Medicare $3.53 billion, well above the $2.7 billion calculated by CMS.

The following information can be accessed:

Medicare Shared Savings Program for 2013–2017 after Accounting for Shared Savings Payments Dobson | DaVanzo Analysis Compared to CMS Benchmark Approach

Source: Dobson | DaVanzo analysis of ACO RIF Data, CMS DUA 28643 and CMS MSSP Public Use Files, 2013-2017