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CMS Announces Latest Scores for Quality Payment Program - 06/23/2025

The Medicare Quality Payment Program will award a slightly higher percentage of positive payment adjustments in 2025 compared to 2024. However, the maximum will be considerably lower than last year’s.

Preview Your Medicare Clinician Profile Through June 25 - 05/29/2025

Physicians participating in the Quality Payment Program will see their 2023 performance scores showcased on two publicly accessible websites. One of those will also feature star ratings in up to 17 categories including preventive health and patient safety.

CMS Suspends Eight MIPS Improvement Activities, Announces 2025 Exception Applications Process - 05/23/2025

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services leaves 96 of the 104 traditional improvement activities available to physicians using the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System. It also indicated that physicians who have completed or are in the midst of completing any of the eight suspended activities can still use them this year.

UPDATE: Submit 2024 MIPS Data by April 14 to Avoid 9% Pay Cut - 03/28/2025

The data submission period for Medicare’s 2024 Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) performance year is underway and closes on April 14 at 7 pm CT. At stake is a pay cut of up to 9% in the 2026 payment year.

Safety in Statute: State Law Guides Violence Prevention in Health Care - 11/18/2024

A new state law guides violence prevention plans in health care.  

New Unscored MIPS Measure Can Help You Refine Your EHR Use - 11/07/2024

Even though it won’t affect your score for 2022, a new piece of this year’s Merit-Based Incentive-Payment System (MIPS) might be worth undertaking just the same – because it can help practices make sure they’re using their electronic health record (EHR) systems safely.

Texas Physicians Propose Mass Violence Prevention Strategies - 09/20/2024

How should Texas address the incidents of mass violence that have rocked the state in recent years? Physicians laid out medicine’s priorities before a special committee of the Texas House of Representatives late last week. The hearing  of the House Select Committee on Mass Violence Prevention and Comm

MACRA: Fix or Folly? - 06/18/2024

The Texas Medical Association has made recommendations to improve the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' proposed rule to implement the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), which results in numerous compliance and administrative hassles.

Physicians Now May Apply for TMA Disaster Relief Program Aid - 03/23/2024

Any Texas physician whose Harvey-damaged medical practice is located in a federally declared disaster area now may apply for relief funds from the Texas Medical Association (TMA) Disaster Relief Program.

Cyberattack Prompts CMS to Extend 2023 MIPS Flexibilities - 03/19/2024

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently announced two flexibilities related to Medicare’s Merit-Based Incentive Payment System 2023 performance year, citing the recent cyberattack on Change Healthcare and heeding advocacy by organized medicine.

Quality of Life: Pay-for-Quality Programs Increasingly Address Nonmedical Drivers of Health - 03/15/2024

Insurance payers seldom give physicians incentives to address nonmedical drivers of health, especially in traditional fee-for-service payer contracts. Those incentives remain rare even in pay-for-quality programs that emphasize value-based care, but they are gaining traction.

Fix Medicare Now: 2024 Fee Schedule Solidifies Cut, Heightens Calls for Reform - 03/05/2024

This latest cut stems from the 2024 Medicare physician fee schedule and Congressional inaction, both of which further erode physician payment, practice viability, and patient access to care.

Reminder: Apply for 2023 MIPS Hardship Exemption by Jan. 2 - 11/28/2023

Physicians eligible to participate in Medicare’s Merit-Based Incentive Payment System may be spared a steep financial penalty, continuing a trend seen throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Feds Propose Information-Blocking ‘Disincentives’ - 11/14/2023

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a proposed rule that would establish what it is calling “disincentives” that could amount to serious penalties for physicians and health care professionals found to have committed information blocking.

First-Ever MIPS Penalties Surface; Share Your Story With TMA - 10/16/2023

Given recent changes to Medicare’s Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and an ongoing push for Medicare physician payment reform, the Texas Medical Association encourages member physicians who participate in MIPS to closely review their final scores for the 2022 performance year.

TMA to Feds: Some Proposed QPP Changes “Costly and Wasteful” - 08/23/2023

TMA letter praises the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for its commitment to deregulation and outlining TMA's concerns about the proposed changes and recommendations for how to improve the QPP.

Medicare Gets It Wrong, Re-Calculates MIPS Scores and Changes 2019 Payment Adjustments - 08/21/2023

All Texas physicians should recheck their 2017 Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) or Alternative Payment Model (APM) information to ensure the correct MIPS payment adjustment (bonus or penalty) was applied for 2019 Medicare payments.

Congress Conducts MACRA Check-Up - 07/25/2023

Federal lawmakers seem to be listening to calls for reform for the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), as the House Energy & Commerce Committee’s Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee recently hosted a “MACRA Checkup” hearing to examine the law’s “successes and remaining challenges.”

Make a Penalty-Free Shift From Meaningful Use to MIPS - 07/25/2023

I’m confused about the overlap of dates between the meaningful use incentive program and the Advancing Care Information reporting requirements under the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System. Is there extra work for physicians who participate in both?

TMA Disaster Relief Program Sends $350,000 in Aid to First Physician Applicants - 06/28/2023

Relief is on the way for some Texas physicians uprooted from their medical practice by Hurricane Harvey. The Texas Medical Association (TMA) Disaster Relief Program committee distributed nearly $350,000 to the first 28 medical practices to apply for assistance to rebuild. Physicians whose Harvey-damaged medical practice is located in a federally declared disaster area have been applying for assistance for damage not covered by insurance or other means, to speed the rebuilding of their community doctor offices.

TMA Hits $1 Million Milestone to Aid Harvey-Damaged Medical Practices - 06/28/2023

The TMA Disaster Relief Program, set up to aid Texas physicians’ practices damaged by Hurricane Harvey, has reached the $1 million mark. A gift of $5,000 from the Michigan State Medical Society Foundation to the Texas Medical Association Foundation (TMAF) Disaster Relief Campaign, tipped the total raised to over $1 million, fulfilling the campaign goal.

Relief Program Launched to Reopen Hurricane-Devastated Medical Practices - 06/28/2023

When staff of a Houston-area children’s urgent care clinic saw security-camera images of brown, murky Hurricane Harvey floodwater submerging the waiting room, they knew it was bad. Quickly, the physicians and other clinic workers jumped into action. Soon they also consulted the Texas Medical Association (TMA) for help, and learned about the TMA Disaster Relief Program.

Generous Contributions Push TMA Relief Program Near $1 Million - 06/28/2023

Two substantial contributions by national physician organizations gave the Texas Medical Association (TMA) TMA Disaster Relief Program a giant boost today, pushing the total raised to nearly $1 million. The program aims to assist thousands of Texas physician practices damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Harvey recover and reopen to care for patients as quickly as possible.

Will Health Quality Improve Under New Medicare? - 06/28/2023

Medicare is revolutionizing how physicians are evaluated and paid to provide care, and patients will see changes as a result, focusing in their care quality. As Texas doctors adapt to the new Medicare payment system, many are concerned about the changes, while others are optimistic the transition will result in healthier patients. The switch to the new Quality Payment Program under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) means physicians who care for Medicare patients must change how they run their practice – and care for their patients.

Going Nowhere: APM Committee Resignations Cast Doubt on Payment Models' Future - 05/10/2023

Resignations from HHS advisory committee cast doubt on future of physician-created alternative payment models.