CMS lists APMs that qualify for MACRA, opens applications for CPC+, Next Generation ACO programs
Providers that participate in an advanced payment model can earn up to 5 percent in bonuses for the 2017 performance year.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Tuesday released an expanded roster of alternative payment models that will qualify under MACRA as providers prepare for participation in the payment reform in January.
To begin, CMS said it will reopen applications for the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus and the Next Generation Accountable Care Organization model for participation in the 2018 year.
The federal agency also said the two-sided risk Oncology Care Model will now be available to qualify as a MACRA advanced payment model for the 2017 reporting year.
[Also: CMS releases MACRA final rule, adds 90-day reporting option]
Providers that participate in an advanced payment model can earn up to 5 percent in bonuses for the 2017 performance year.
CMS released the final version of MACRA less two weeks ago, and at the time said it would be looking to expand existing alternative payment models or adding new ones soon. Physicians participating in MACRA can avoid participating in the Merit-Based Incentive Payment side of MACRA reimbursement if they take part in at least one of the APM programs.
According to CMS, the following APMs will qualify under MACRA: Comprehensive ESRD Care Model (Large Dialysis Organization (LDO) arrangement); Comprehensive ESRD Care Model (non-LDO arrangement); CPC+; Medicare Shared Savings Program ACOs - Track 2; Medicare Shared Savings Program ACOs - Track 3; Next Generation ACO Model; and the Oncology Care Model (two-sided risk arrangement).
[Also: Physician practice advocates decry delay for virtual groups in MACRA final rule]
CMS also said it will add APMs in 2018 that will include a new voluntary bundled payment model, Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Payment Model (Certified Electronic Health Record Technology (CEHRT) track), the Advancing Care Coordination through Episode Payment Models Track 1 as well as a new accountable care model dubbed ACO Track +1. While few details are out on that model, CMS has said it will give providers an easier option to assume risk under an ACO model. It is designed for those providers participating in Track 1 of the Shared Savings program who have not yet taken on any risk.
CMS said it expects up to 120,000 physicians will participate in MACRA under an APM in 2017.
"Every day, the CMS Innovation Center is improving the future of Medicare by testing innovative care models across the country," said CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt ia statement. "Now, thanks to the bipartisan MACRA, clinicians have more opportunities and motivation to join these evidence-based approaches, which aim to improve care quality while creating cost savings."
Democratic members of the U.S House of Representatives Ways & Means Committee on Tuesday said the announcement will help more providers embrace MACRA.
"APMs are not one-size-fits-all, but rather are multi-faceted so physicians can find a model that best suits their practice style. And building on the flexibilities that CMMI has already encouraged, the new bipartisan law allows for providers to suggest new models, new ideas, and new ways forward to improve health care," the group said in a statement. "MACRA builds upon the work of CMMI by making it the hub of new model development and central to the qualification of bonus payments for physicians for participating in the Advanced APMs."
Twitter: @HenryPowderly
Contact the author: henry.powderly@himssmedia.com
