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Federal flexibility in compliance with the first year of MACRA reforms is a win for most physicians.
The American Gastroenterological Association “is pleased that CMS [the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services] is providing physicians woth more flexible options for reporting and that, most importantly, no physician will be penalized in 2019 for their reporting in 2017,” the association said in a statement. “Since the release of the MACRA [Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015] proposd rule, AGA has been advocating to Congress and CMS that the agency provide physicians with mor eflexibility to coply with the law and have opportunities to succeed in the new payment system.”
Those who choose the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) track now have three options for when they must start reporting data next year. Data reported in 2017 will serve as the benchmark for bonus payments paid in 2019.
Option 1
Report “some data” in 2017. Doctors who report some data to the Quality Payments Program (QPP) – the official name for MACRA-required reforms – will not face a Medicare pay cut. CMS considers even this low level of reporting a test for whether physicians will be ready for more intense MACRA involvement in 2018 and 2019. Exactly how much “some data” is currently is not defined.
Option 2
Participate for part of 2017. Those who choose to report data to QPP for some of the year also will be testing their systems for future MACRA compliance and may end up with a small Medicare pay increase. Again, the duration of reporting was not defined by the CMS at press time.
Option 3
Participate for the full year. Doctors who begin to report data from all parts of QPP on Jan. 1 will be eligible for a “modest” Medicare pay increase in 2019. Data on quality measures, use of technology, and practice improvement must be reported.
For those who are eligible for participation in Advanced Alternative Payment Models (APMs), that track will begin Jan. 1, 2017.
The American Medical Association commended federal officials “for listening to physicians’ concerns about the timeline that was originally proposed for MACRA,” AMA President Andrew Gurman, MD, said in a statement. “The AMA believes the actions that the administration announced today will help give physicians a fair shot in the first year of MACRA implementation. This is the flexibility that physicians were seeking all along.”
Not all see the new flexibility as a good thing, particularly for larger group practices that are ready to fully participate in MACRA as of Jan. 1.
“This flexibility is especially important for small provider groups that may have legitimate logistical issues around MACRA’s reporting requirements,” Donald Fisher, PhD, president and CEO of AMGA, said in a statement. (AMGA was formerly known as the American Medical Group Association.)
“However, our membership is deeply concerned that the creation of these new reporting options will have the unintended result of penalizing the very provider groups that have made the largest investments to meet MACRA’s goals of better quality, improved clinical practice activities, better use of electronic medical records, and lower resource use. These groups have already begun the transition from volume to value, and it is disappointing the rewards for their effort will be compromised rather than rewarded, as was MACRA’s stated purpose by Congress and the administration.”
By offering options for compliance, the CMS could potentially limit the amount of bonus payments in order to meet MACRA’s budget-neutral requirements, according to Chet Speed, vice president of public policy at AMGA. There will be no potential penalties that would offset bonuses for organizations that are performing at a high rate, which could result in having to lower the maximum bonuses an organization would be eligible to receive.
“You’ve compressed rewards to a level where it just penalizes those who have made the investments” in upgrading their systems to prepare for the Jan. 1 start date, Mr. Speed said.
He emphasized that the CMS could still address this and make the full bonus payments available to those who are prepared to participate on Jan. 1, but that will not be known until the final rule is published. He applauded the agency’s efforts in continually reaching out to the physician community throughout the MACRA development process and said he is hopeful there will be resolution to these concerns in the final rule.
Federal flexibility in compliance with the first year of MACRA reforms is a win for most physicians.
The American Gastroenterological Association “is pleased that CMS [the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services] is providing physicians woth more flexible options for reporting and that, most importantly, no physician will be penalized in 2019 for their reporting in 2017,” the association said in a statement. “Since the release of the MACRA [Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015] proposd rule, AGA has been advocating to Congress and CMS that the agency provide physicians with mor eflexibility to coply with the law and have opportunities to succeed in the new payment system.”
Those who choose the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) track now have three options for when they must start reporting data next year. Data reported in 2017 will serve as the benchmark for bonus payments paid in 2019.
Option 1
Report “some data” in 2017. Doctors who report some data to the Quality Payments Program (QPP) – the official name for MACRA-required reforms – will not face a Medicare pay cut. CMS considers even this low level of reporting a test for whether physicians will be ready for more intense MACRA involvement in 2018 and 2019. Exactly how much “some data” is currently is not defined.
Option 2
Participate for part of 2017. Those who choose to report data to QPP for some of the year also will be testing their systems for future MACRA compliance and may end up with a small Medicare pay increase. Again, the duration of reporting was not defined by the CMS at press time.
Option 3
Participate for the full year. Doctors who begin to report data from all parts of QPP on Jan. 1 will be eligible for a “modest” Medicare pay increase in 2019. Data on quality measures, use of technology, and practice improvement must be reported.
For those who are eligible for participation in Advanced Alternative Payment Models (APMs), that track will begin Jan. 1, 2017.
The American Medical Association commended federal officials “for listening to physicians’ concerns about the timeline that was originally proposed for MACRA,” AMA President Andrew Gurman, MD, said in a statement. “The AMA believes the actions that the administration announced today will help give physicians a fair shot in the first year of MACRA implementation. This is the flexibility that physicians were seeking all along.”
Not all see the new flexibility as a good thing, particularly for larger group practices that are ready to fully participate in MACRA as of Jan. 1.
“This flexibility is especially important for small provider groups that may have legitimate logistical issues around MACRA’s reporting requirements,” Donald Fisher, PhD, president and CEO of AMGA, said in a statement. (AMGA was formerly known as the American Medical Group Association.)
“However, our membership is deeply concerned that the creation of these new reporting options will have the unintended result of penalizing the very provider groups that have made the largest investments to meet MACRA’s goals of better quality, improved clinical practice activities, better use of electronic medical records, and lower resource use. These groups have already begun the transition from volume to value, and it is disappointing the rewards for their effort will be compromised rather than rewarded, as was MACRA’s stated purpose by Congress and the administration.”
By offering options for compliance, the CMS could potentially limit the amount of bonus payments in order to meet MACRA’s budget-neutral requirements, according to Chet Speed, vice president of public policy at AMGA. There will be no potential penalties that would offset bonuses for organizations that are performing at a high rate, which could result in having to lower the maximum bonuses an organization would be eligible to receive.
“You’ve compressed rewards to a level where it just penalizes those who have made the investments” in upgrading their systems to prepare for the Jan. 1 start date, Mr. Speed said.
He emphasized that the CMS could still address this and make the full bonus payments available to those who are prepared to participate on Jan. 1, but that will not be known until the final rule is published. He applauded the agency’s efforts in continually reaching out to the physician community throughout the MACRA development process and said he is hopeful there will be resolution to these concerns in the final rule.
Federal flexibility in compliance with the first year of MACRA reforms is a win for most physicians.
The American Gastroenterological Association “is pleased that CMS [the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services] is providing physicians woth more flexible options for reporting and that, most importantly, no physician will be penalized in 2019 for their reporting in 2017,” the association said in a statement. “Since the release of the MACRA [Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015] proposd rule, AGA has been advocating to Congress and CMS that the agency provide physicians with mor eflexibility to coply with the law and have opportunities to succeed in the new payment system.”
Those who choose the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) track now have three options for when they must start reporting data next year. Data reported in 2017 will serve as the benchmark for bonus payments paid in 2019.
Option 1
Report “some data” in 2017. Doctors who report some data to the Quality Payments Program (QPP) – the official name for MACRA-required reforms – will not face a Medicare pay cut. CMS considers even this low level of reporting a test for whether physicians will be ready for more intense MACRA involvement in 2018 and 2019. Exactly how much “some data” is currently is not defined.
Option 2
Participate for part of 2017. Those who choose to report data to QPP for some of the year also will be testing their systems for future MACRA compliance and may end up with a small Medicare pay increase. Again, the duration of reporting was not defined by the CMS at press time.
Option 3
Participate for the full year. Doctors who begin to report data from all parts of QPP on Jan. 1 will be eligible for a “modest” Medicare pay increase in 2019. Data on quality measures, use of technology, and practice improvement must be reported.
For those who are eligible for participation in Advanced Alternative Payment Models (APMs), that track will begin Jan. 1, 2017.
The American Medical Association commended federal officials “for listening to physicians’ concerns about the timeline that was originally proposed for MACRA,” AMA President Andrew Gurman, MD, said in a statement. “The AMA believes the actions that the administration announced today will help give physicians a fair shot in the first year of MACRA implementation. This is the flexibility that physicians were seeking all along.”
Not all see the new flexibility as a good thing, particularly for larger group practices that are ready to fully participate in MACRA as of Jan. 1.
“This flexibility is especially important for small provider groups that may have legitimate logistical issues around MACRA’s reporting requirements,” Donald Fisher, PhD, president and CEO of AMGA, said in a statement. (AMGA was formerly known as the American Medical Group Association.)
“However, our membership is deeply concerned that the creation of these new reporting options will have the unintended result of penalizing the very provider groups that have made the largest investments to meet MACRA’s goals of better quality, improved clinical practice activities, better use of electronic medical records, and lower resource use. These groups have already begun the transition from volume to value, and it is disappointing the rewards for their effort will be compromised rather than rewarded, as was MACRA’s stated purpose by Congress and the administration.”
By offering options for compliance, the CMS could potentially limit the amount of bonus payments in order to meet MACRA’s budget-neutral requirements, according to Chet Speed, vice president of public policy at AMGA. There will be no potential penalties that would offset bonuses for organizations that are performing at a high rate, which could result in having to lower the maximum bonuses an organization would be eligible to receive.
“You’ve compressed rewards to a level where it just penalizes those who have made the investments” in upgrading their systems to prepare for the Jan. 1 start date, Mr. Speed said.
He emphasized that the CMS could still address this and make the full bonus payments available to those who are prepared to participate on Jan. 1, but that will not be known until the final rule is published. He applauded the agency’s efforts in continually reaching out to the physician community throughout the MACRA development process and said he is hopeful there will be resolution to these concerns in the final rule.