Hospitals Withdraw from O.Care Cost Savings Plan

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-16/hospitals-withdraw-from-key-obamacare-cost-savings-plan.html

Nine of 32 hospitals and health systems dropped out of a U.S. pilot program created through the Affordable Care Act to reduce medical costs by moving away from a traditional fee-for-services model, the government said.
The costs of caring for those enrolled in the “Pioneer” program increased 0.3 percent in 2012, less than half the rate of other beneficiaries in Medicare, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said today in a statement. Medicare, the U.S. health plan for the elderly and disabled, saved $33 million for the 669,000 beneficiaries in the pilot group, the agency said.
The program, begun in January 2012, created accountable care organizations, or ACOs, designed to save money by more efficiently managing care for patients with chronic diseases like diabetes or dementia. The health providers are paid a fixed monthly stipend for patients rather than receiving fees for medical services.