From FierceHealthcare:

“Some Accountable Care Organization (ACO) groups are worried that a dip in participation this year could be the start of a worrisome trend due to major changes made to the program by the Trump administration.

“The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Wednesday that 518 ACOs are part of the program as of July 1, a decline from 561 ACOs that participated in 2018. The new data have the National Association of ACOs (NAACOS) worried about whether the decline is an anomaly or the start of a trend thanks to major changes to the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP).

“CMS Administrator Seema Verma wrote in a blog post on Health Affairs Wednesday that CMS approved 206 ACOs to start July 1 and that 41 of them are new to the program. The number of new entrants is below the normal rate of more than 100 ACOs that have signed up each year since the program started seven years ago.”

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