Medicaid Accountable Care Organizations: State Update

Across the country, states are exploring the viability of Medicaid accountable care organizations (ACOs) that align provider and payer incentives to focus on value instead of volume, with the goal of keeping patients healthy and costs manageable. To date, eight states have launched Medicaid ACO programs, and nine more are actively pursuing them. This fact sheet walks through current progress for Medicaid ACOs. It describes how emerging state programs are seeking to drive accountability through three key activities: (1) implementing a value-based payment structure; (2) measuring quality improvement; and (3) collecting and analyzing data. It also provides a glimpse of some early state successes.