Accountable care organizations saved Medicare money in 2017

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released new data on accountable care organizations that, on a high level, show the networks of hospitals and doctors saved Medicare money in 2017 and scored high quality marks.

The bottom line: ACOs have reduced federal health care spending more than what skeptics expected. But there are still questions of whether ACOs could have reduced Medicare spending even more if hospitals and doctors were on the hook for paying back losses sooner and if there is a limit to how much they could really save in the future.