IMAGE
Thursday, May 9, 2019

Accountable Care…The Savior of U.S. Healthcare?

Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in March of 2010, much has been discussed, debated, written, and deployed relative to healthcare FINANCING reforms (see insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, self-insured employers, fees/taxes, pre-existing conditions, essential health benefits, community rating, minimum loss ratio, etc.).  But very little has been written, or even revealed for that matter, about the ACA’s healthcare DELIVERY reforms and incentives.  This is too bad, since we know that $.80 to $.85 of every dollar of billed health insurance premium is directly related to healthcare delivery.  So it stands to reason that if we could reduce health CARE costs, health insurance PREMIUMS would follow suit.  Enter Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) into the equation.  Let’s examine what ACO’s are…who they are…and why many are looking to them to save America’s healthcare system from imploding.