Possible Changes to MIPS

(https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/budget-fy2019.pdf)

President Trump’s budget for 2019 includes a proposal to end quality reporting under the Merit-based Incentive Program (MIPS), MIPS is one of the two tracks under Medicare’s new payment system that was implemented by the Medicare Access and CHIP Re-authorization Act (MACRA).

The idea behind the proposed plan would be for CMS to assess performance (via internal metrics) without requiring physicians to manually report information, thereby giving them more time to spend with their patients. Payment adjustments would only apply to payments made under the Physician Fee Schedule rather than modifying reimbursement received under Part B. Existing thresholds would be removed and physicians would instead be rewarded for participating.

President Trump’s budget proposal meets the concerns of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), which has always been critical of the burdens MIPS / MACRA place on caregivers. The American Medical Association (AMA) and the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), on the other hand, have expressed a desire to work on fixing the existing program