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CMS Announces Program to Fund ACO Growth, Extends Fraud and Abuse Waivers

Posted by Chris Raphaely on October 16, 2014
Accountable Care Organizations, CMS, OIG / No Comments

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) announced a new initiative, the ACO Investment Model, on October 15, 2014.  Under the model, ACOs which are made up of “providers [who] lack adequate access to … capital” may receive additional funding from the CMS “to invest in infrastructure necessary to successfully implement population care management.” The eligibility criteria are as follows:

  • The ACO must be accepted into and participate in the Medicare Shared Savings Program. The ACO’s first performance period in the Medicare Shared Savings Program must have started in either 2012, 2013 or 2014 or will start in 2016.
  • The ACO has completely and accurately reported quality measures to the Medicare Shared Savings Program in the most recent performance year, if the ACO started in the Medicare Shared Savings Program in 2012, 2013 or 2014, excluding ACOs that will start in 2016.  The ACO has a preliminary prospective beneficiary assignment of 10,000 or fewer beneficiaries for the most recent quarter, as determined in accordance with the Shared Savings Program regulations.
  • The ACO does not include a hospital as an ACO participant or an ACO provider/supplier (as defined by the Shared Savings Program regulations), unless the hospital is a critical access hospital (CAH) or inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) hospital with 100 or fewer beds.
  •  The ACO is not owned or operated in whole or in part by a health plan.
  •  The ACO did not participate in the Advance Payment Model.

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