ObamaCare program saves Medicare $400M

[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

A pilot program created under ObamaCare to change Medicare's payment system saved almost $400 million and will be expanded, the administration announced Monday...

... Under the program, groups of doctors agree to accept lump payments under Medicare instead of individual payments for each service they provide, as in the traditional Medicare payment system.

The idea is to discourage unnecessary tests and procedures and better coordinate care. If the groups of doctors, known as Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), end up keeping costs below the target, they get to keep some of the leftover money, providing an incentive to keep costs down...

ObamaCare program saves Medicare $400M | TheHill

[MatrixRn]

This program has the potential to save a great deal of money. When i first heard of ACO's I was unclear about them so I did research. To help people wrap their heads around ACOs and their potential. In some ways they are a modified HMO........

"One of the main ways the Affordable Care Act seeks to reduce health care costs is by encouraging doctors, hospitals and other health care providers to form networks which coordinate patient care and become eligible for bonuses when they deliver that care more efficiently."

See article below:

FAQ On ACOs: Accountable Care Organizations, Explained | Kaiser Health News

[scottaprn]

I am an outspoken critic of the ACA but I do like Accountable Care Organizations. It makes much more sense than fee-for-service.

I am not sure it is able to reach the scale that the administration thinks (this was just a pilot program and a high percentage of organizations dropped out because it wasn't working) but I do applaud innovative thinking. It won't work everywhere but it is a piece to the overall fix.

[NurseGirl525, ASN, RN]

So now, less and less doctors will accept Medicare. Great!!! That's just what those on Medicare want to hear. Sorry, I know I've been your provider for 10 years but because Obama and his great ideas, you are going to have to find some yahoo that will take your insurance. So essentially our elderly and disabled, the people who need insurance the most, get the short-end of the stick because Obama thinks he fixing things, when in fact he's making a bigger cluster mess. I cannot wait until 2016.

[heron, ASN, RN]

As Medicare goes, so goes the industry.

[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

So now, less and less doctors will accept Medicare. Great!!! That's just what those on Medicare want to hear. Sorry, I know I've been your provider for 10 years but because Obama and his great ideas, you are going to have to find some yahoo that will take your insurance. So essentially our elderly and disabled, the people who need insurance the most, get the short-end of the stick because Obama thinks he fixing things, when in fact he's making a bigger cluster mess. I cannot wait until 2016.

This is a voluntary pilot program.

The fine physicians I know take Medicare. At nearly 71 I'm a Medicare patient. healthy so far)

About 50% of hospital revenue from operations is from Medicare.

[MunoRN, RN]

So now, less and less doctors will accept Medicare. Great!!! That's just what those on Medicare want to hear. Sorry, I know I've been your provider for 10 years but because Obama and his great ideas, you are going to have to find some yahoo that will take your insurance. So essentially our elderly and disabled, the people who need insurance the most, get the short-end of the stick because Obama thinks he fixing things, when in fact he's making a bigger cluster mess. I cannot wait until 2016.

I'm not sure where you're getting that from. More than 90% of physicians accept medicare, I've had various private insurance plans and have never been able to claim that more than 90% of physicians accept my insurance.

An ACO is: Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) are groups of doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers, who come together voluntarily to give coordinated high quality care to their Medicare patients.The goal of coordinated care is to ensure that patients, especially the chronically ill, get the right care at the right time, while avoiding unnecessary duplication of services and preventing medical errors.

When an ACO succeeds both in delivering high-quality care and spending health care dollars more wisely, it will share in the savings it achieves for the Medicare program.

[BadwomanM]

I'm not sure where you're getting that from. More than 90% of physicians accept medicare, I've had various private insurance plans and have never been able to claim that more than 90% of physicians accept my insurance.

Can't speak for the rest of the country, but in this little part of Texas it's a real problem trying to find doctors who accept new Medicare patients. We see more and more managed plans these days.

[toomuchbaloney]

I'm not sure where you're getting that from. More than 90% of physicians accept medicare, I've had various private insurance plans and have never been able to claim that more than 90% of physicians accept my insurance.

Can't speak for the rest of the country, but in this little part of Texas it's a real problem trying to find doctors who accept new Medicare patients. We see more and more managed plans these days.

Texas is one of the most expensive states for health care expenses for the individual from cost of insurance to cost of care in a hospital.

Why hasn't the state government fixed that?