CMS Announces Modifications To ACO Investment Model To Increase Rural & Small Group Participation

On June 25, 2015, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced two modifications to the design of the Medicare accountable care organization (ACO) Investment Model that are designed to help rural areas and small group practices participate in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP). First, CMS will allow ACOs that started in the MSSP in 2015 to apply for the ACO Investment Model in the 2016 application round. Second, CMS removed the requirement that rural and small group practice must have 10,000 or fewer assigned beneficiaries for ACOS starting in the MSSP in 2015, or planning to . . .