The final rule on Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) has been released by CMS.  The final rule implements section 3022 of the Affordable Care Act which contains provisions relating to Medicare payments to providers of services and suppliers participating in ACOs under the Medicare Shared Savings Program. 

An advance copy of the final rule may be found online via The Office of the Federal Register website at http://www.ofr.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2011-27461_PI.pdf.  The final rule is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on November 2, 2011.

A comparison of the proposed rule versus the final rule for ACOs in the Medicare Shared Savings Program may be found here: http://www.cms.gov/aco/downloads/Appendix-ACO-Table.pdf.