On June 20, 2017, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released a proposed rule which would exempt a greater number of small practices from complying with the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (“MACRA”).
CMS’s Administrator, Seema Verma has been quoted as saying that CMS has “heard the concerns that too many quality programs, technology requirements and measures get between the doctor and the patient. . . That’s why we’re taking a hard look at reducing burdens. ”
In order to accomplish this goal, CMS proposes to now exempt physician practices with less than $90,000 in Medicare revenue or physicians with fewer than 200 unique Medicare patients. The current rule only exempts physician practices that have less than $30,000 in Medicare revenue or fewer than 100 unique Medicare patients. This proposed rule could mean another 834,000 clinicians could be exempt from the quality reporting under MACRA.
While this seems like a large increase in the number of physicians that are exempt, a recent Modern Healthcare article notes that “65% of Medicare payments would still be reported under methods that adhere to MACRA even if this draft rule were finalized.”
If you are interested in commenting on the proposed rule you may do so through August 30, 2017. The proposed rule can be found at the following website: Proposed Rule.
If you would like more information about MACRA please see the Fox Rothschild Health Law Alert – Medicare Quality Payment Program from January 2017.