Emerging Medicaid Accountable Care Organizations: The Role of Managed Care

This brief, developed by staff at Mathematica and the Kaiser Family Foundation, looks at efforts by a number of states to set up accountable care organizations (ACOs) within their Medicaid programs. The analysis reveals that many initiatives are in a very early stage of development. Medicaid's extensive experience with risk-based managed care has influenced the design of ACOs within the program, as has Medicaid's complex eligibility and benefit structure. Cost containment is a motivating factor in many states, which means they must balance short-term cost pressures against investments in partnerships and delivery system redesign necessary for success over the longer term.