MACRA

CMS Reweights MIPS Cost Category to Zero Due to the Pandemic - 05/04/2022

As a result of the ongoing public health emergency, physicians will find some much-needed, if temporary, relief from burdensome reporting requirements under Medicare’s Merit-Based Incentive Payment System.

MACRA: Fix or Folly? - 05/02/2022

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.

Victory! Congress Finally Repeals Flawed Medicare SGR Formula - 05/02/2022

Statement of TMA President Austin I. King, MD, on the U.S. Senate vote to approve HR 2, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, which finally repealed the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula. 

MIPS Participation Drops per Preliminary Report - 04/05/2022

Fewer clinicians participated in Medicare’s Quality Payment Program in 2020, and fewer participants earned incentive payments compared with 2019, according to preliminary data recently released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

MIPS 2021 Data Submission Now Open - 04/05/2022

Participants in the 2021 performance year of the Quality Payment Program’s (QPP’s) Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) can now submit their data through the QPP website. You can submit and update your MIPS data until 7 pm CT on March 31.

MIPS Deadlines Approaching for 2021 Data Submission, COVID Exception - 03/28/2022

Clinicians who participated in Medicare’s Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) in 2021 have until this Thursday, March 31, at 7 pm CT to submit and update their data for that performance year. That's also the deadline for MIPS-participating groups, virtual groups, and alternative payment model entities to apply for an extreme and uncontrollable circumstances exception for 2021 because of COVID-19.

Medicare Maintains Quality Reporting Resources for Small Practices - 03/16/2022

Despite the recent expiration of an initiative to help small, rural, and underserved practices navigate Medicare’s Quality Payment Program, the agency is still offering help to those practices through several avenues, including a new monthly newsletter geared toward small practices.

Medicare Extends MIPS Relief for Groups - 03/02/2022

Because of the COVID-19 public health emergency, Medicare has reopened applications from certain groups for its hardship exception under Medicare’s Merit-Based Incentive System (MIPS) extreme and uncontrollable circumstances policy.

Alphabet Soup: A MACRA Glossary and Acronym Guide - 08/19/2021

MACRA, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015,  introduced a slew of new acronyms and terms for physicians to understand. Here's our glossary.

Submit 2020 Data Now to Avoid Medicare Pay Cut - 03/23/2021

If you participated in Medicare’s Quality Payment Program (QPP) under the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), the deadline to submit all data through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) portal has been extended one day to April 1. The deadline had been March 31.

CMS Increases Advanced APM Thresholds for 2021 - 11/13/2020

If you participated in Medicare’s Quality Payment Program (QPP) this year as a Qualifying Alternative Payment Model Participant (QP), you’ll need to keep an eye on your status for 2021.

CMS Postpones 2019 MIPS Reporting Deadline to April 30 - 03/23/2020

With a key deadline for clinicians in the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System approaching fast amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is giving those clinicians a month of extra time to submit their data.

TPHC Praises Bill to Make State College Campuses and Offices Tobacco-Free - 02/20/2020

Statement by Eduardo Sanchez, MD, chair of the Texas Public Health Coalition and former Texas commissioner of health, in support of legislation filed to make Texas state college campuses and state agencies tobacco-free.

AMA House Punts on Texas Plan to Fix QPP - 11/20/2019

A decision on whether the American Medical Association (AMA) will join the Texas Medical Association’s call for major changes to Medicare’s Quality Payment Program (QPP) will have to wait a few more months, the AMA House of Delegates decided at its annual meeting in Chicago last week. The QPP overhaul was just one of 11 resolutions the Texas delegation to the AMA took to the five-day meeting. Most of the other 10 received a very warm welcome.

File Your MIPS Targeted Review Request by Sept. 30 - 09/18/2019

Physicians have two weeks to file a targeted review request to appeal errors in their 2018 Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) performance feedback and 2020 Medicare payment adjustment under the Quality Payment Program (QPP).

Yes, You Do Have to Comply With a MIPS Audit Request - 08/14/2019

TMA finally received clarification from CMS: If you receive an Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) audit request for the 2017 and/or 2018 performance years, compliance is indeed mandatory, and there are possible punishments for noncompliance.

TMA to Congress: Undo Payment Freeze, Help Physicians With MACRA - 06/25/2019

Physicians participating in the Quality Payment Program’s Merit-Based Incentive Payment System and alternative payment models need help from Congress to succeed, and lawmakers need to undo an upcoming freeze on Medicare payments. That’s what the American Medical Association, the Texas Medical Association, and dozens of other medical societies told House of Representatives and Senate leaders in both parties in a letter sent last week.

Be On the Lookout for MIPS Audit Request - 06/25/2019

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has contracted with Guidehouse, a nationwide consulting firm, to audit physicians who participate in the Merit-Based Incentive Program, which is under the Quality Payment Program. If you submitted MIPS data for 2017 and/or 2018, you could receive a request for information via email or certified letter from Guidehouse.

Deadline to Submit 2018 MIPS Data is April 2 - 03/27/2019

If you plan to participate in the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System, submitting your data for 2018 on time is not something to fool around with. That’s why the Texas Medical Association reminds you that the deadline to submit data for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’2018 Quality Payment Program is April 2 – the day after April Fool’s Day.

National Specialty Societies With MACRA Information - 03/27/2019

To help you get the best information possible, TMA has identified direct links to MACRA news, resource centers, education, and advocacy from national specialty societies. Visit your specialty society online for information specific to your specialty, setting, and practice.

How to Avoid MIPS Penalty with Minimal Reporting by April 2 - 03/25/2019

For 2018 reporting, your 2020 Medicare payments will be cut even more – by 5 percent – if you are required to participate in MIPS but choose not to submit data. So if you’d rather get paid in full next year (or – even better – receive a payment bonus), there’s still time to submit 2018 data. But you should act fast. The deadline is April 2.

Free MIPS Help from TMF Health Quality Institute - 03/22/2019

The Texas Medical Association has heard from physicians who do not know if they are required to participate in Medicare’s Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) as well as those who know they need to participate – and know they need help.

CMS Working to Correct MIPS Payment Errors - 03/05/2019

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says it has become aware of an error in MIPS payment adjustments applied to Medicare Part B drugs, and is working to resolve the issue.

New Options for Medicare’s 2019 Quality Payment Program - 01/08/2019

Just when you thought no one could make the Quality Payment Program any more complicated, the agency that runs the program has done just that. Beginning in 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will split the QPP’s advanced alternative payment model (APM) track into two options: the original Medicare Option, and the new All-Payer Combination Option.

MIPS Training and Assistance - 12/12/2018

TMA's practice management consultants can conduct a MACRA readiness assessment of your practice and provide customized on-site assistance to help you with your practice's specific needs. The assessment will focus on clinical processes, electronic health record optimization, and workflow improvement opportunities to help increase your MIPS scoring.