MACRA (Medicare Access and Children's Health Insurance Program Re-authorization Act)

Making Sense of MACRA - AAFP's 2018 MIPS Playbook is now available to assist members.

Want to learn more about MACRA and the Quality Payment Program? Bookmark the MACRA Ready page for resources on how to get started.

View the CMS overview of the MACRA proposed rules.  

10/27 - Link to the final rules.  View AAFP's side-by-side comparison of the proposed vs. final rules.

Excerpt from AAFP’s “In the Trenches” blog - On April 16, the President signed into law the Medicare Access and Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) (Public Law 114-10), bringing to a close one of the more frustrating and disruptive health policies of modern times. After 13 years and 17 short-term fixes at a cost of nearly $170 billion spent, we can now shout from the mountain tops that the SGR IS REPEALED! The enactment of this legislation was made possible by historic votes in the House of Representatives and Senate. All told, 484 members of Congress -- or 91 percent -- voted for the bill.

For an answer to this and many other questions, please visit the Academy's MACRA resources. This link will be your one stop for information on MACRA and the resources the AAFP has available to assist you in your pursuit to implement and comply with the provisions of the law. Start with the Frequently Asked Questions document that provides a top-line summary of the law.

On July 1st, physicians participating in the Medicare program started receiving a .5 percent increase in their payments. The .5 percentage increase will continue, annually, through 2019. All physicians participating in the Medicare program will receive these annual updates. Starting in 2019, physicians will have the option of pursuing their payments through an alternative payment model (APM) such as the patient-centered medical home or by staying in the fee-for-service system and participating in the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS).  Here are more details on Medicare Bonuses and Penalties.

Resources you can use:

MACRA Highlights - an overview of two payment models: Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Alternate Payment Models (APM). Posted with permission of the Health Management Academy.