In a meeting with the Senate Finance Committee, CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt said the agency would consider delaying Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, which is currently set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2017, according to Health IT News.
Under MACRA, physicians can participate in the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System or the Alternative Payment Models. MIPS consists of a weighted score of quality, resource use, meaningful use and practice improvement scores. Physicians have the opportunity to receive financial bonuses if they obtain good quality outcomes. However, many may face penalties if they fail to meet CMS' requirements.
Here are four takeaways:
1. When addressing the committee, Mr. Slavitt said the agency would consider the implementation extension as small, rural and independent practices may face challenges with MACRA.
2. CMS initially anticipated MIPS would provide bonuses or penalties to nearly 102,788 solo practitioners. Of that figure, nearly 87 percent would face MIPS penalties in 2019.
3. For practices comprised of two members to nine members, initial estimates found nearly 69.9 percent would face penalties.
4. CMS is also open to different start dates to allow providers and practices sufficient time to prepare for MACRA.
More articles on coding & billing:
Shopping for care: New healthcare tool aims to further price transparency
How Obama would change the ACA: 5 things to know
$900M Medicare funding boost to enhance preventive medicine in 2017: 5 things to know