New Medicare Prescription Drug Cost Data Available – On April 30, 2015, CMS announced the availability of new, privacy-protected data on Medicare Part D prescription drugs prescribed by physicians and other health care professionals in 2013 available here.  CMS said the data contains information from more than one million health care providers who collectively provided about $103 billion in prescription drugs under the Part D program during 2013.  CMS’s press release is available here. 

Pioneer ACOs Saved $385 Million Over Two Years – According to a study published by CMS authors and released today on the website for the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), during their first two performance years, Pioneer Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) saved $385 million over anticipated spending levels under Medicare fee-for-service for similar beneficiaries.  The study is available here.