The portion of lives covered by accountable care organizations fluctuates widely between states, according to a recent Health Affairs blog post.
"Covered lives, which indicate how many people are covered by any ACO contract, are a better representation of the prevalence of the model," wrote David Muhlestein, PhD, director of research at Leavitt Partners.
Dr. Muhlestein and Leavitt Partners estimate that just 6 percent of the nation's population is enrolled in an ACO. However, some states have a much greater population of citizens enrolled in ACOs than others.
For instance, Oregon has 27 percent of its population in an ACO, thanks in part to its Medicaid ACO movement, according to the blog post. Additionally, eight other states — Alaska, Iowa, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Utah and Vermont — have more than 10 percent of their people in ACOs.
On the other hand, some states — like Alabama, Georgia, South Dakota, Oklahoma and Wyoming — have 2 percent or less of their populations in the model.
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