In this HealthAffairs post, the authors argue that today’s most attractive national Accountable Care Organization model is offered by CMS.

They write:

“Fortunately, CMS heard the complaints about early MSSP  {Medicare Shared Savings Program} models and addressed the majority of them through the progressive structure of the Next Gen {of ACOs} model. In fact, the core difference between MSSP Track 1 and the current Next Gen model is that the latter is based upon extensive feedback from health systems regarding their concerns about MSSP Track 1.

“Next Gen is therefore a program that health systems have directly asked for. The model still has room for further improvement — for example, Next Gen ACOs should have access to the full toolkit of benefit- and network-design strategies found in Medicare Advantage and other provider-led offerings. But the CMMI {Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation} leadership has pledged to pursue additional features that could take effect in the later years of the Next Gen model, and will continue the virtuous cycle of improvements.”