In what may be the most significant modification to Medicare since the program began in 1966, on Oct. 15, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final rule for implementing the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). It dramatically changes how Medicare pays doctors for their services. Does it really matter how doctors get paid? Yes — the success or failure of the new payment system will profoundly influence the future of the U.S. health care system. And while the goals of MACRA are laudable, its implementation carries a number of unknowns and the potential for unintended consequences — for patients and doctors alike. One recent survey of physicians found nearly 40 percent expect a “mass exodus” from Medicare over MACRA. Before MACRA, Medicare used a fee-for-service payment system, reimbursing separately for each individual service provided, without regard to the quality of the care. The new system will reward doctors for providing high-quality, efficient care
Source: Risk of ‘Mass Exodus’ of Doctors from Medicare
I don’t understand this stuff or how it is supposed to work.
But I do know that the easier and simpler something is the more likely it is to succeed and the more complex and difficult it is the more likely it is to fail.
This seems awfully complex and difficult to me.
But, then, I’m not a doctor or other healthcare professional or worker.
There’s a reason for the folksy sounding acronym KISS.
I’m a psychologist and see mostly Medicare patients (by my choice.) None of us has any idea how this will work. It still is a work in progress. The paperwork complications change each year so you never understand what you are supposed to do. Everything is a moving target with threats of decreased pay is you don’t follow the changing unclear rules. Physicians have it worse than me. However, I have never been able to get any of the supposed increases (in pay) for doing things as they ask, just not the penalties (thank goodness.)
Most physicians in independent practice without an organization are going to be screwed. The time it takes to manage, understand, and go through all the hoops makes it cost prohibitive. Working for an organization is not going to be in my plan. I will retire first. (and so are many practicing physicians…or they will just leave Medicare.)
Its part of the plan to force ALL doctors to become employees of big corporations.
They already did it to most pharmacists already.
Good! When it collapses and we end the fed it will be one less thing to repair/save. In the future, if you want healthcare you’ll have to get a job and pay for it. Yeah, I know…….totally foreign concept.