Dive Brief:
- CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt testified during a hearing held by the Committee on Ways and Means' subcommittee on health Wednesday on the Medicare Access & CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) implementation rule the agency proposed last month.
- Subcommittee members voiced strong concerns over Table 64 regarding the impact of the 962-page rule on small and solo practices. Slavitt replied CMS has been and will continue to take several steps to ensure they will prosper just as much as larger practices.
- The agency will be receiving feedback on the MACRA implementation rule until June 27.
Dive Insight:
"If CMS is trying to win back the hearts and minds of physicians, this proposal falls short because it will continue to push physicians out of their small practices or solo practice," congressman Sam Johnson said during the hearing.
Slavitt maintained that ensuring these practices are successful is of upmost importance to the agency. "Our data shows that physicians that are in small or solo practices can do and do do just as well as physicians in larger practices," he said.
Another subcommittee member pointed out that according to Table 64 (shown below), solo practitioners could see a negative adjustment of more than 80%.
Slavitt noted people should be mindful of the fact that most physicians did not report on their quality measures during 2014, the year from which data was used to make Table 64. In subsequent years, the number of physicians reporting such data went up because reporting became easier, according to Slavitt.
CMS is making sure that it's as easy as possible for physicians to report, he said. "They need to be practicing medicine, not doing paperwork.”
In preparation for the implementation of MACRA, Slavitt suggested providers continue to educate people about the opportunity of being able to decide which quality measures they want to be measured on, and consider participating in advance care models if possible.
