MGMA advocates for additional relief for physician practices, ACOs

Last week, Democratic leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced the ‘‘Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act,” which includes several provisions that directly pertain to medical practices. The legislation would make further amendments to the PPP, Medicare’s Advance Payment Program, and the Provider Relief Fund. While this bill is not expected to pass due to lack of bipartisan support, MGMA offered several key recommendations for consideration as Congress works to come to a bipartisan agreement.

Additionally, MGMA and other industry-leading associations have urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide flexibility for practices participating in a Medicare accountable care organization (ACO) and to protect them from potentially harmful losses created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, MGMA called on CMS to:

• Adopt a policy to give ACOs an option to be protected from losses in exchange for a reduced shared savings rate, no less than 40%;
• Extend the current June 1 Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) deadline to voluntarily terminate to avoid financial losses to no earlier than Oct. 31;
• Reverse its decision to cancel the 2021 MSSP application cycle; and

Pay ACO shared savings payments and advanced alternative payment model bonuses as soon as possible