UnitedHealthcare, which has major operations in Hartford, said it expects to expand its base of accountable care contracts from $20 billion to $50 billion over the next five years.
The Minnesota-based insurer said the expected increase will be driven by more providers transitioning to the contracts, which link a portion of reimbursement to quality and cost-efficiency measures.
The insurer has ACO relationships with more than 575 hospitals, 1,100 medical groups and 75,000 physicians.
“We are improving health outcomes for patients at lower costs by moving even more broadly to value-based payment models and integrating those with our care provider network, product and clinical strategies,” Austin Pittman, president of UnitedHealthcare Networks, said in a statement.
The company said it offers varying levels of integration with providers, depending on their ability to assume financial risk and affect health outcomes. ACO plans are offered across employer-sponsored, Medicare and Medicaid benefit plans.
A move to the ACO model for Medicare patients is a cost-saving strategy of the federal Affordable Care Act.
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