On July 14, 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released the proposed rule for the Calendar Year (“CY”) 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (“PFS”), formally titled CMS-1832-P....more
On June 22, 2023, the US House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing titled “MACRA Checkup: Assessing Implementation and Challenges that Remain for...more
CMS recently announced updates and milestones for several programs run by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI). CMMI is the internal CMS agency responsible for developing and testing new health care payment...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Nov. 1, 2019, published the Calendar Year (CY) 2020 Final Rule for the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). The MPFS dictates Medicare rates and policies under Part B,...more
In this week’s episode, Steve Pine presents the last installment of our three part series addressing the CMS Quality Payment Program (QPP) updates in the CY2020 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) Proposed Rule. In this episode, Mr....more
• The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has published the Calendar Year (CY) 2019 Final Rule for the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS), which includes provisions related to Medicare physician payments as well...more
On July 12, 2018, CMS issued proposed revisions to Year 3 of the Quality Payment Program (QPP) in the rule entitled Revisions to Payment Policies under the Physician Fee Schedule and Other Revisions to Part B for CY 2019;...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on July 12, 2018, published the CY 2019 Proposed Rule for the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS). While in previous years regulations for the Quality Payment Program (QPP)...more
On January 9, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new voluntary bundled-payment demonstration program, also known as Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) Advanced. The new model will test...more
CMS recently proposed modified policies for continued implementation of the Quality Payment Program (QPP) in the 2017 Proposed Rule. Among other things, the Proposed Rule provides flexibility for clinicians in the second QPP...more
Under CMS’s new Quality Payment Program, which will adjust Medicare Part B payments starting in 2019 based on data from this year, physicians and other eligible clinicians must qualify for one of two payment “tracks”, either...more
Payment models that seek to reward physicians, hospitals and other health care providers for achieving certain quality and cost-saving goals, or “value-based purchasing” (VBP), are not new to the healthcare landscape,...more
On November 14, 2016, CMS published its final rule implementing the physician payment provisions of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (“MACRA”). The rule became effective January 1, 2017. Data collection from...more
If you are a physician, mid-level provider, or work with those providers, then you have been bombarded with new acronyms for new programs and promises to remove older acronyms from your Medicare vocabulary. Medicare...more
Since I began writing this year-end review in 2013, there have been some common themes – a shift to pay for quality and away from fee-for service, much of which has been brought about by the Affordable Care Act (ACA): efforts...more
The Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the much-anticipated Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) final rule this month. The rule makes extensive changes to traditional Medicare Part B...more
MACRA (the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015) is bi-partisan legislation that was enacted to change Medicare reimbursement from being based on the current system of volume of services provided to...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released its final rule with comment period implementing the bipartisan Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). Among its numerous changes,...more
Many observers view the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) as a game changer for the delivery and payment of health care services. On Oct. 14, 2016 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services...more
On the heels of the release of its final rule implementing the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its 2017 list of Advanced Alternative Payment...more
On Oct. 14, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a final rule with comment period implementing the bipartisan Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). The nearly 2,400 pages of...more
On October 14, 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a final rule with comment period (Final Rule) implementing the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). The Final Rule...more
On October 14, 2016, CMS issued its Final Rule for the new physician payment system under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). MACRA replaced the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) with a new...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Oct. 14, 2016, released the highly anticipated Final Rule implementing the Medicare physician payment reforms enacted as part of the Medicare Access and CHIP...more
After receiving roughly 4,000 comments to its proposed rule, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on October 14, 2016 released its final rule for implementing the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act...more