HPIO releases primer on final Medicare Shared Savings Program rules

The Health Policy Institute of Ohio has released a new policy primer -- Final rules for the Medicare Shared Savings Program (4 pages, pdf).

On Nov. 2, 2011, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published the Final Rules for the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP). These Final Rules establish the framework for health care providers to join together to form Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) to provide coordinated, high quality, cost effective care to Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries. The Final Rules include financial incentives for health care providers to join ACOs by allowing providers to share in savings achieved in Medicare expenditures resulting from improved, coordinated care.

In May of 2011, HPIO published a Health Policy Brief entitled “Understanding the Medicare ACO and its Potential Impact on Ohio and the Nation: Considerations of the CMS Draft Rules,” (24 pages, pdf) that outlined the Proposed MSSP Rules and reactions from Ohio-based health systems implementing the accountable care model. This policy brief is an update to that original and outlines some of the significant changes included in the Final Rules and impact they may have on participation in the program.