Accountable care organizations and Market Power Issues

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) have received significant attention since passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the spring of 2010. The ACA directs the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to create the Medicare Shared Savings Program, which encourages groups of providers (e.g., group practices, networks of individual practices, hospitals, partnerships or joint ventures) to come together to form ACOs that will manage and coordinate inpatient and outpatient care for Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) beneficiaries. ACOs that meet certain quality standards will be eligible to receive payments based on shared savings generated by the providers. Additional provisions in the ACA also potentially could apply to ACOs, including bundled payment and other pilot programs.