CMS finalizes historic Medicare reform law

Afinal rule released today by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) details the final regulations for implementation of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), the historic Medicare reform law that repealed the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula last year.
The AMA will now pore over and dissect the final regulations in the coming days to make sure you know exactly what the rule contains and how it will impact your practice.What we know already
CMS made some significant changes in the proposed rule issued last spring, demonstrating that they took physician input into consideration, announcing changes that will help physicians make the transition, including:Pick your pace: CMS announced in September thatthe final regulation will exempt physicians from any risk of penalties if they choose one of four participation options in 2017. The takeaway —even minimal performance reporting will exempt you from any penalties, and opportunities for a shorter, 90-day reporting period will make you eligible for positive payment adjustments.Low-volume threshold exemption: Practices with less than $30,000 in Medicare payments or fewer than 100 Medicare patients will be exempted from performance reporting entirely.Resource use holds 0 percent weight in year one: The Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) has four components, one of which is resource use. In the first year of implementation, this category will hold 0 percent weight toward your MIPS scor...

Source: AMA Wire - October 14, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Troy Parks Source Type: news