What is the difference between ACO and ACA?

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the healthcare reform law passed in 2010, while an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) is a healthcare delivery model created by that same law.

Think of the ACA as the blueprint for reforming the healthcare system and ACOs as one of the tools it introduced to achieve better care at lower costs.

ACA Explained

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, is a comprehensive federal law that reshaped the U.S. healthcare system. Its main goals are to:

• Expand access to health insurance for millions of Americans

• Lower healthcare costs nationwide

• Improve care quality and patient outcomes

To achieve this, the ACA introduced several major initiatives, such as expanding Medicaid coverage, creating health insurance marketplaces, and encouraging new healthcare delivery models that reward quality and efficiency.

ACO Explained

An Accountable Care Organization (ACO) is one of the key delivery models introduced by the ACA. ACOs are networks of hospitals, doctors, and other providers that voluntarily come together to coordinate care for Medicare patients.

ACOs focus on:

• Delivering coordinated, high-quality patient care

• Reducing unnecessary or duplicated services

• Keeping patients healthy to prevent costly treatments later

When an ACO meets Medicare’s quality and cost benchmarks, it can share in the savings — motivating providers to prioritize preventive care and better outcomes over service volume.

Why ACOs are an important part of ACA reform

ACOs put the ACA’s vision of value-based care into action — shifting the focus from fee-for-service to pay-for-performance. This model helps address:

• Fragmented care and lack of coordination

• Rising healthcare costs and inefficiencies

• Gaps in managing chronic conditions

Quick summary

Simply put:

• ACA = a federal law focused on enhancing the entire healthcare system.
• ACO = a model created by the ACA to specifically improve patient care and control costs through better coordination among healthcare providers.

Understanding this difference helps you navigate the complexities of modern healthcare reforms.

How Medisolv Helps

Medisolv helps ACOs simplify their reporting and achieve success under value-based care programs by:

• Automatically aggregating data across multiple systems

• Validating quality metrics in real time

• Delivering instant insights to drive measurable improvement

Focus on patient outcomes, and we’ll handle the data behind the quality.

Want to dive deeper? Check out these related Medisolv resources:

• 2025 PFS Final Rule | Medisolv 
• eCQMs vs Medicare CQMs: Which Is Better for ACOs? 
• APM Performance Pathway (APP) Reporting Package