The North Carolina Medical Society’s (NCMS) ACO Task Force finalized their comments on proposed changes to the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) and submitted them to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) on Wednesday. Review the comments here.
Generally, the Task Force found CMS’ proposals to be a positive step to encourage more practices to participate in, and continue to participate in the MSSP, although there were some concerns outlined in the comments. CMS released the draft rule on the MSSP for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) on Dec.1, and proposed a number of modifications, including:

  • Allowing for an additional 3 year agreement period containing no downside risk but with a lower shared savings payment potentials (40 percent);
  • Adding a third track with prospective patient attribution and greater risk and savings potential;
  • Updating the Minimum Savings Rate and Minimum Loss Rate for Track 2 to mirror Track 1;
  • Changing the beneficiary assignment methodology;
  • Clarifying some ambiguities in the rule;
  • Improving data sharing and reducing administrative burden.