In response to a group of bipartisan members of Congress who requested feedback from the physician community on how the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) should be reformed, DHPA provided a letter supporting congressional efforts to improve MACRA and for the continued transition away from fee-for-service care to value-based, pay-for-performance care.
DHPA’s letter recommended that Congressional action focus on terminating the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) program, providing predictable, annual updates that reflect increasing practice costs, reducing disparities in the cost for identical services between sites of care, and adjusting the process for alternative payment model (APM) approval to enhance APM development and to improve participation in value-based care by independent physicians.
DHPA Recommendations for Improving MACRA:
- Terminate the MIPS program because its has not helped physicians deliver value to patients, has not helped patients choose physicians that deliver value effectively, and has been extremely costly and burdensome to physicians.
- Provide physicians with a reasonable annual payment update based on input costs such as the Medicare Economic Index; physicians are the only major provider group that does not receive annual payment updates reflecting their input costs.
- Address payment disparity issues between sites of care that are driving high health care costs, stymieing competition, and preventing independent practices from being able to innovate and deliver value-based care.
- Require CMS to initiate pilot tests (e.g., minimum of 3-5 Metropolitan Statistical Areas for three years) of PTAC-recommended APMs—such as Project Sonar—for evaluation and possible expansion or termination based on well-defined metrics for quality care improvement and Medicare savings.
- Increase affordable access to CMS claims data to better inform and develop APMs.
Click here to read the full letter >>