Today, FAH responded to Congressional leadership’s request for information on the current state of the Medicare Access and Chip Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), payment mechanism improvements, and improving overall value and access to care. 

FAH’s response urges lawmakers to address Medicare physician fee schedule payment reductions. “Without intervention from Congress, physicians and primary care providers again face a dramatic payment decrease. When combined with the current 2 percent Medicare sequester, the threat of PAYGO cuts, and other expiring provisions, clinicians across the country find themselves in an untenable position,” stressed the letter.  

“We encourage lawmakers to intervene again, and to also look beyond recurring patchwork legislation to a permanent policy solution. Updating the Medicare physician payment system to include annual increases that account for inflation would offer financial stability and predictability to providers across the country,” the letter continues. 

The letter also provides recommendations to improve Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Alternative Payment Model (APM) Programs. “We urge Congress to provide CMS with the authority to address the quality measure reporting variability in Quality Payment Program (QPP) in light of the disruptive impact that the pandemic has had on the reliability of the underlying data driving the measure scores and to create a process to address future reporting disruptions,” says the letter. 

In the RFI response, FAH also advised Congress to pass the Value in Health Care Act of 2021 (H.R. 4587).  

Click here to review the complete letter.