Insights

New White Paper: A Vision for the Future of Medicare Advantage Supplemental Benefits: Advancing Value, But Validating Results

Medicare Advantage plans in the United States continue to explode in popularity, now reaching over 30 million Americans, due to the broad appeal of supplemental benefits that can be offered by plans to enrollees. What started off as a core set of benefit offerings, including dental, vision, and over-the-counter medications, has recently been expanded by … Read more

The Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy and Leavitt Partners Releases “Medicare ACO Results for 2018: More Downside Risk Adoption, More Savings, and All ACO Types Now Averaging Savings” Report

Salt Lake City, November 11, 2019—Medicare’s flagship Accountable Care Organization (ACO) program, the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP), achieved net savings of $73 per person in 2018, more than double the net savings of $35 per person achieved in 2017. Researchers from the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy and Leavitt Partners shared their analysis of … Read more

Why Do Accountable Care Organization Leave the Medicare Shared Savings Program?

Salt Lake City, May 6, 2019—In new research published today in Health Affairs, authors from the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy and Leavitt Partners studied factors that determine whether accountable care organizations (ACOs) thrive or exit Medicare flagship’s alternative to fee-for-service, the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP). The study looked at 624 ACOs that have … Read more

Leavitt Partners Releases “Multi-Year Medicare Advantage Plans: A Framework for Action” White Paper

Salt Lake City, March 20, 2019—Today, Leavitt Partners released “Multi-Year Medicare Advantage Plans: A Framework for Action.” This white paper proposes a Multi-Year Medicare Advantage Plan (MyMap) demonstration project to remove barriers to a value-based health insurance products, improve health outcomes for Medicare beneficiaries, and reduce the cost of care. The white paper is authored … Read more

New Data Demonstrates Large Accountable Care Organizations’ Commitment to Assume Financial Risk 2019 Participation in Medicare’s Major Payment and Delivery Reform Program

Salt Lake City, March 15, 2019— New research from the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy and Leavitt Partners shows that while most Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) have committed to continue participating in the recently overhauled flagship Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP), physician-led ACOS are leaving at a higher rate than in 2017. Highlights of this … Read more

Leavitt Partners Releases “Track Switching in Medicare ACO Programs: A Look at the Move to Downside Risk” White Paper

Salt Lake City, February 25, 2019—Today, Leavitt Partners released “Track Switching in Medicare ACO Programs: A Look at the Move to Downside Risk,” a white paper providing data-driven insight into the important characteristics distinguishing ACOs that progress to downside risk tracks from those that do not. The analysis in this paper draws on Leavitt Partners … Read more

Leavitt Partners Releases “Medicare: Drifting Toward Disaster” White Paper

Salt Lake City, January 15, 2019—Today, Leavitt Partners released “Medicare: Drifting Toward Disaster,” a white paper authored by former Utah Governor and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt. The paper discusses how to achieve bipartisan reform in Medicare. With the hospital insurance fund expected to reach insolvency by 2026, the paper sounds the … Read more

Health Affairs Releases “Half A Decade In, Medicare Accountable Care Organizations Are Generating Net Savings” A Two-Part Health Affairs Blog

Washington, DC, September 21, 2018 – A Medicare program begun in 2012 to coordinate health care and be accountable for patients’ health saved Medicare $313 million in 2017, the first time the program generated net savings for the federal government, a two-part blog post released Thursday and Friday by Health Affairs reports. The post, by … Read more

Medicare Shared Savings Program: Outcomes from the First Four Years

In two original articles published in The American Journal of Accountable Care, the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy and Leavitt Partners examine quality improvements and cost savings in the first four years of the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP), and suggest opportunities for system-wide improvement. The authors examined outcomes for ACOs over time using the … Read more

Leavitt Partners Releases “Medicare Advantage Premiums Higher in Markets with Concentrated Health Plans” White Paper

Salt Lake City, November 15, 2017 – With Medicare Advantage open enrollment period already underway, it is important to examine the Medicare Advantage premiums paid by beneficiaries. Today, Leavitt Partners released, “Medicare Advantage Premiums Higher in Markets with Concentrated Health Plans,” a white paper that examines the relationship between the concentration (a measure of market … Read more