Affordable Care Act in Action at CMS

CMS is developing new programs and tools as a result of the Affordable Care Act to help you deliver better care.  We are your partner in ensuring that millions of Americans are part of a better health care system.

What CMS is Doing Now

At CMS, we’re working with you – the providers, States, and partners – to improve care and reduce costs, making better health care a reality today.  We are proud to be:

Coordinated care makes a healthy community. That’s why we’re letting providers know how they can join together to form Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and why we’re changing how we reimburse providers - by rewarding them for working together.  Add to this the right tools, like Electronic Health Records, and simplified paperwork, and providers can deliver high quality care while using health care dollars more wisely.

Our goal is to keep people healthy. That’s why we’re focused on wellness and prevention.  Millions of people have taken advantage of the Affordable Care Act’s free preventive services like cancer and wellness screenings. Because we can’t keep everyone healthy all the time, we’re proud to have started “Partnership for Patients” – an energized network of over 5,000 leaders of major hospitals, employers, physicians, nurses, and patient advocates dedicated to making hospital care safer, more reliable, and less costly. 

Too many Americans can’t afford health care. That’s why we’re devoted to establishing Affordable Insurance Exchanges where consumers and small businesses can compare insurance plans that compete for business based on price and quality. Together with States, we’re taking a good, hard look at why insurance premiums might be going up, and making sure these decisions are public and justified. While America is getting healthier, it’s also getting safer – we’re able to continue to build partnerships between public and private stakeholders, each committed to fight health care fraud.

The Affordable Care Act also takes care of our most vulnerable citizens – by making sure health insurance plans care for people with higher health costs, making it illegal for a plan to deny someone coverage because they’re sick, and lowering the amount people pay for prescription drugs in the “donut hole.”

CMS is committed to continuing this important work in transforming health care delivery systems and helping to ensure a healthy future for all Americans.