An Accountable Care Organization (ACO) is designed to improve care for patients holding which type of insurance?

An Accountable Care Organization (ACO) is primarily designed to improve care for patients with Medicare insurance. ACOs are groups of healthcare providers that voluntarily come together to give coordinated high-quality care to their Medicare patients. The goal of this coordination is to ensure that patients receive the appropriate care at the right time, while also avoiding unnecessary services and preventing medical errors.

By focusing on Medicare patients, ACOs can implement strategies that promote quality over volume, aligning the incentives of providers with patient outcomes. Medicare emphasizes the importance of reducing costs and improving health outcomes, which are core objectives of ACOs. This collaboration can lead to more efficient use of resources and better health management, ultimately benefiting the aging population that predominantly relies on Medicare.

Although ACOs could potentially include other types of insurance in their models, the primary framework and initiatives associated with ACOs are specifically tailored for Medicare recipients, making this the most accurate answer.