The ACO Assignment Improvement Act expands participation in Medicare’s coordinated-care programs by ensuring Medicare recognizes the care patients receive from nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and clinical nurse specialists when determining their participation in an Accountable Care Organization (ACO). This change will help Medicare patients receive more seamless, coordinated, and high-quality care. ... By expanding Accountable Care Organizations to include more providers, we can help lower costs and make care easier for patients to navigate.
Introduce legislation to expand participation in Medicare's coordinated-care Accountable Care Organization (ACO) programs by ensuring Medicare recognizes care from nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and clinical nurse specialists for ACO assignment, increasing patient access to coordinated and high-quality care.
Occurrences
Evidence
On December 4, 2025, Senators John Barrasso and Sheldon Whitehouse introduced the ACO Assignment Improvement Act to expand Medicare's coordinated-care programs by recognizing care from nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and clinical nurse specialists for ACO assignment.
The ACO Assignment Improvement Act of 2025, introduced by Senators Barrasso and Whitehouse, aims to amend the Social Security Act to improve beneficiary assignment under the Medicare Shared Savings Program by including primary care services furnished by nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and clinical nurse specialists.
A bipartisan bill introduced by Senators Whitehouse and Barrasso would allow patients who receive primary care from nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and clinical nurse specialists to be included in Medicare's ACO models, addressing current limitations that assign patients to ACOs only if they receive care from a physician.
The ACO Assignment Improvement Act, introduced by Senators Whitehouse and Barrasso, would authorize assignment of patients treated exclusively by physician assistants and nurse practitioners to Medicare shared savings accountable care organizations, removing current limitations that exclude such patients from ACO participation.
Assessments
Senator Barrasso introduced legislation specifically meeting the promised policy goal by seeking to expand participation in Medicare ACOs to patients cared for by nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and clinical nurse specialists. However, the evidence does not show that the legislation was passed or the policy fully implemented; thus, only the act of introduction and legislative effort are verified.