Health Affairs

The Integrity of MACRA May Be Undermined by “Incident to Billing” Coding.

The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015 ended the Sustainable Growth Rate formula that for years had resulted in an eleventh-hour intervention by Congress to avoid drastic reductions in Medicare physician payments. MACRA also established incentives for clinician payments to become increasingly based on value with the intent of rewarding clinicians who produce better outcomes at lower costs. Efforts are underway to establish the outcomes and quality measures that will be included in the new payment systems.