NEW MACRA REPORTING OPTIONS PROVIDE FLEXIBILITY, MAY PENALIZE HIGH PERFORMERS
Newswise — ALEXANDRIA, VA – AMGA President and CEO Donald W. Fisher, Ph.D., CAE, issued the following statement regarding the recent announcement by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) about new flexibility in its implementation of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA):
“AMGA recognizes and appreciates the need for CMS to create flexibility to ensure the nation's physicians are afforded the opportunity to succeed under MACRA, and we are similarly appreciative of Congress' views on this matter. This flexibility is especially important for small provider groups that may have legitimate logistical issues around MACRA’s reporting requirements.
“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 efforts will be compromised rather than rewarded, as was MACRA’s stated purpose by Congress and the Administration.
“We understand that the details related to the four options are not yet fully known and may change. We ask that CMS continue to create a quality mechanism that assesses all providers equally and that the Congress afford physician stakeholders the appropriate public forums to respond to this new refinement as well as the overall MACRA implementation."
###About AMGAAMGA is a trade association leading the transformation of health care in America. Representing multispecialty medical groups and integrated systems of care, we advocate, educate, and empower our members to deliver the next level of high performance health. AMGA is the national voice promoting awareness of our members’ recognized excellence in the delivery of coordinated, high-quality, high-value care. More than 170,000 physicians practice in our member organizations, delivering care to one in three Americans. For more information, visit amga.org
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