Physicians tell House panel the keys to MACRA implementation

Physician leaders Tuesday testified before an influential congressional committee, calling attention to the promise of the landmark Medicare reform law and the necessary steps to ensure implementation is optimal for physicians and patients. A critical opportunity One of the primary goals of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) was to repeal the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula that left physicians in a constant state of uncertainty and threatened patients’ access to care. But the law does a lot more than that. “The passage of MACRA now allows physicians an opportunity to focus on our patients,” Barbara McAneny, MD, immediate past-chair of the AMA Board of Trustees, told the panel during her opening remarks. The four physicians spoke at a hearing of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health explained that this law provides a path forward, with important improvements over the current Medicare system. These include: Eliminating the SGR formula. “This change alone allows more time and resources to be spent focusing on care rather than worrying about how to sustain practices,” Dr. McAneny said in her written testimony (log in). In place of the SGR formula, MACRA established payment updates of 0.5 percent through 2019. Streamlining reporting programs. The law enacts a new Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) that will combine the requirements of the electronic health record meaningful...
Source: AMA Wire - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Source Type: news