Organizations representing healthcare and insurance interests continue to press the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to delay implementation of the proposed Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), reports MedPage Today.
Members of a panel hosted by the Alliance for Health Reform and jointly sponsored by the American Medical Association (AMA) and the Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) Association joined a growing chorus of physicians and assorted healthcare advocacy groups concerned about the speed with which CMS plans to implement major changes intended to shift the delivery of healthcare from a fee-for-service model to a value-based system that rewards providers for delivering quality care. As FiercePracticeManagement has previously reported, overall response has been mixed, ranging from cautious optimism regarding the improvements the rule makes to the previous systems it’s designed to replace to dire expectations that solo and small practices will end up leaving Medicare in droves.
Thomas Eppes, Jr, M.D., who practices with Central Virginia Family Physicians and chairs the AMA’s Integrated Physician Practice Section Governing Council says providers need more time to respond to the increased administrative burden the rule will place on physicians. According to the article, the AMA is also urging CMS to streamline and simplify the way practices are required to report quality and practice improvement, and to change the rules in order to keep low-volume practices out of the default MIPS program.
Lemeneh Tefera, M.D., medical officer for the Center for Clinical Standards & Quality at CMS defended the current timeline, stressing that the rule’s current start date represents “the beginning of a window to report,” with some reporting for some metrics allowed as late as July, according to MedPage Today. Meanwhile, Mara McDermott, vice president of federal affairs at CAPG told the publication that most physicians represented by her organization have already been preparing for MACRA since 2006, and would prefer the law to go into effect on schedule.
- here’s the article