Accountable Care Collaborative could save money and improve quality, but it risks new barriers to care

Today, the Colorado Center on Law and Policy released an issue brief on Colorado's Accountable Care Collaborative Program and the impact the program could have on the state's Medicaid population.

Colorado is implementing new mechanisms to serve the hundreds of thousands of residents who participate in the Medicaid program. The state's Accountable Care Collaborative (ACC) Program could help contain costs and improve the services Medicaid recipients receive. Without careful implementation, though, the ACC Program risks creating new barriers to care, especially for Colorado's poorest and most vulnerable Medicaid participants.

The ACC Program's potential to improve health care delivery for Medicaid recipients and contain costs for the state show how vital it is for advocates, policymakers and providers to help make the program's implementation a success. Savings of $4.8 million dollars from the ACC Program were projected in Colorado's Fiscal Year 2011-12 budget. The Medicaid program would be under significantly less pressure to control costs by reducing benefits or cutting provider rates if the ACC Program is able to realize that savings goal.

The brief was written by Rice Fellow Danny Rheiner and can be found on the CCLP website.