Biden Administration to End COVID-19 PHE on May 11

Originally published in the February 2, 2023, issue of MGMA’s Washington Connection
Reprinted with permission from MGMA

The Biden Administration announced that it plans to end the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) on May 11, 2023. This decision comes after multiple renewals over the past three years. MGMA appreciates that the Administration heeded our call to provide at least 90-days’ notice prior to concluding the PHE. The end of the PHE will have ramifications for a variety of flexibilities afforded by the pandemic over the last several years, such as HIPAA penalty waivers, controlled substance prescription waivers, and COVID-19 testing and treatment coverage.

For more information on the flexibilities that will conclude along with the PHE, download MGMA’s member-exclusive resource.

NC Practice, Magnolia Place, Featured in MGMA Connection

The January issue of MGMA’s Connection magazine features an article titled “Laying the Foundation for Behavior Health Integration.” The article, written by Christian Greene, MA, discusses the increasing rise of behavior health conditions in patients and the opportunity our industry faces to integrate behavior care with existing expertise in medical practices. Magnolia Place Obstetrics, Gynecology & Wellness, in Greenville, NC, led by NCMGMA board member Carrilee Andreu-Neel, CMPE, is blazing the integration trail and is featured in the article for their “self-designed hybrid model of care.”

Carrilee Dale Andreu-Neel, Practice Success Administrator for Magnolia Place Obstetrics, Gynecology & Wellness, reads the January issue of MGMA’s Connection.

Read the complete article online here or you can access a digital copy of the January issue of Connection here.

Next Week is National Medical Group Practice Week

Next week is National Medical Group Practice Week (NMGPW)! From all of us at NCMGMA, we say thank you to all the healthcare professionals, industry partners and students for your drive, your commitment to excellence and your passion for providing and supporting exceptional healthcare in North Carolina.  Your hard work does not go unnoticed!

COVID-19 PHE Renewed

Originally published in the January 12, 2023, issue of MGMA’s Washington Connection
Reprinted with permission from MGMA

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra renewed the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) yesterday. This renewal extends the PHE through mid-April 2023 and has implications for Medicare telehealth, COVID-19 testing, and other waivers. HHS has reiterated its promise to give a 60 days’ notice before letting the PHE expire.

While many telehealth flexibilities are tied to the PHE, it is important to note that the recently passed Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, does ensure certain ones will remain in effect through Dec. 31, 2024, regardless of PHE status.

More information may be found in MGMA Government Affairs’ newly updated telehealth resource.

Congress Releases Year-end Legislation, Addressing Medicare Cuts and Telehealth

Originally published in the December 22, 2022, issue of MGMA’s Washington Connection
Reprinted with permission from MGMA

Earlier this week, Congress released the text of their year-end spending package, which contains a handful of healthcare provisions that will impact medical groups.

Medicare physician payment: The legislation averts 6.5% of the scheduled 8.5% reduction to physician reimbursement in Medicare, resulting in an approximate 2% cut to the Medicare conversion factor for 2023. By way of background, in 2021, CMS shifted funds in the physician fee schedule to pay for an increase in work RVUs, which raised reimbursement for office visits. This shift resulted in a decrease to the conversion factor due to a statutorily mandated budget neutrality adjustment. Congress provided funds to offset the adjustment in 2021 and partially offset it again in 2022. Going into 2023, we expected a cut of 8.5%, resulting from both a decrease to the conversion factor (4.5%) and PAYGO cut (4%). For the third year in a row, we’ve urged Congress to address the de facto cuts — this year in the form of adding 4.5% back into the fee schedule and waiving PAYGO. Unfortunately, despite 10,000 letters from MGMA members, Congress did not have the appetite to fully waive budget neutrality requirements to address the slated 4.5% cut. Instead, Congress will only partially mitigate it by allowing a 2% cut in 2023. This is in addition to legislation waiving the 4% PAYGO for 2023 and 2024. MGMA has voiced its disappointment that Congress is allowing a 2% cut to occur in 2023 and will continue working to find a more sustainable and comprehensive solution.

Alternative Payment Models (APMs): The 5% incentive bonus is set to expire at the end of this year. The legislation would extend the bonus for an additional year, through 2023, at 3.5%.

Telehealth: Many telehealth waivers, including being able to treat a patient in their home, were extended through 2024. This is positive development supported by MGMA to ensure continuity from pandemic-era telehealth policies.

Lab cuts: Pending the passage of this legislation, practices will receive a one-year reprieve from the laboratory cuts of up to 15% that would have gone into effect in January 2023. This provision was also supported by #MGMAAdvocacy.

We expect Congress to pass this legislation into law by Friday. We will let you know if Congress modifies the current text.

Act Now: Only 17 Days Until Medicare Cuts Take Effect

Originally published in the December 15, 2022, issue of MGMA’s Washington Connection
Reprinted with permission from MGMA

With only 17 days remaining in 2022, time is rapidly running out for Congress to act to avert the 4.5% reduction to the Medicare conversion factor set to effect on Jan. 1. We know from our members that the impact of this cut, especially in light of current inflationary pressures and workforce shortages, will be devastating for medical groups nationwide.

As the Medicare physician fee schedule is the only Medicare payment system without an annual inflationary update, the 4.5% reduction will only exacerbate current financial concerns and is frankly untenable. Should these cuts take effect, medical groups may be forced to make difficult business decisions including reducing the number of Medicare patients served, limiting the number of services provided, laying off staff, and even selling their practices.

MGMA continues to advocate against this detrimental reduction and for permanent payment reforms. If you haven’t done so already, join in #MGMAAdvocacy today by sending a letter to your members of Congress to pass legislation to stop the full 4.5% payment reduction from taking effect.

Already sent a letter? The time is now to pick up the phone. Call your members of Congress immediately and implore them to protect beneficiary access to care by passing legislation to #StopTheFullCut. Already asked your colleagues to take action? Now is the time to ask your friends and loved ones — the health of our nation’s seniors depends on it.

MGMA and Partner Orgs. Urge Congress to Prevent Full 4.5% Cut to Medicare Payment Rates

Originally published in the December 8, 2022, issue of MGMA’s Washington Connection
Reprinted with permission from MGMA

On Monday, MGMA and over 100 other healthcare stakeholder organizations sent a letter to congressional leadership urging action to avert the entire 4.5% reduction to Medicare payment rates scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2023. The letter illustrates the severity of this pending cut and the negative impact it will have on practices, especially in light of current inflationary pressures. As the Medicare physician fee schedule is the only Medicare payment system without an annual inflationary update, the pending 4.5% reduction will only exacerbate current financial concerns.

MGMA is continuing to advocate against this harmful reduction and for permanent payment reforms. Join in #MGMAAdvocacy today by sending a letter to your members of Congress to pass legislation to stop the full 4.5% payment reduction from taking effect.

Call To Action: 31 Days Until Medicare Payment Cuts Take Effect

Originally published in the December 1, 2022, issue of MGMA’s Washington Connection
Reprinted with permission from MGMA

With just one month remaining in 2022, MGMA needs your immediate help urging Congress to take action to avert significant Medicare payment cuts set to take effect on Jan. 1. The time to act is now! Utilize our online portal to send a letter to your members of Congress today encouraging the passage of legislation to avert the 4.47% reduction to the Medicare conversion factor, waive the statutory 4% Pay-As-You-Go sequester, provide an inflationary update based on the Medicare Economic Index, and extend the alternative payment model 5% incentive payment.

Already sent a letter? Please share this link with everyone at your practice and ask them to do the same: www.congressweb.com/MGMA/67. Want to get the word out beyond your colleagues? Encourage others to get involved in this critical advocacy effort by sharing a post from our Medicare Cuts Advocacy Social Media Toolkit!

Without congressional action, these payment reductions will take effect and have a drastic impact on beneficiary access to care and group practice financial resiliency. Take a look at our survey results to see what others are saying about the payment cuts, including how they disrupt practice operations and overall investment throughout the healthcare industry. Join in #MGMAAdvocacy today calling for the swift passage of legislation to avert these devastating payment cuts!

ACMPE Preparation: Essentials + Live Q&A

The ACMPE Preparation: Essentials + LIVE Q&A is designed to help healthcare professionals prepare for the ACMPE exams. This comprehensive course helps examinees identify content necessary to meet board certification standards, including financial management, regulatory compliance, organizational governance and departmental operations management and transformative healthcare delivery. To best prepare applicants for the examinations, topics are reviewed from the perspective of a variety of healthcare settings, including hospitals and ambulatory care settings.

• Courses cover the domains of the Body of Knowledge, Financial Management, Operations Management, Human Resources, Organizational Governance, and Risk and Compliance
• Maximum scheduling flexibility, this course is divided into several short segments, allowing you to complete one or more at a time.
• Multimedia, videos, and animation
• Interactive quizzes and real-life problem-solving scenarios
• Identification of learning gaps and additional resources to close those gaps
• The ability to take notes within the course platform and print for future reference

Registration includes five self-paced sessions, one quarterly question and answer session and one exam that allows you to claim continuing education credit. You must attend all sessions to claim ACMPE and CEU credit.

Sessions 1 through 5 are the Essentials Courses:

• Essentials of Financial Management
• Essentials of Organizational Governance
• Essentials of Risk and Compliance Management
• Essentials of Human Resource Management
• Essentials of Operations Management

Session 6: Board Certification Preparation: Live Question-and-Answer Session
This session is held quarterly and hosted by Debbie Hudson and Tracy Bird. This session will be held 6:00 pm – 6:30 pm ET (5:00 pm CT, 4:00 pm MT, 3:00 pm PT). The dates Session 6 is offered are as follows:

• Wednesday, December 14
• Wednesday, February 8
• Wednesday, May 10
• Wednesday, August 16

LIVE Q&A is available on-demand after each live recording. To learn more about ACMPE Preparation: Essentials + Live Q&A, follow this link.

MGMA Sends Congress Year-end Legislative Recommendations

Originally published in the November 17, 2022, issue of MGMA Washington Connection
Reprinted with permission from MGMA

On Monday, MGMA sent a letter to congressional leadership urging them to address significant Medicare cuts and other important healthcare policies before the end of this year. The letter highlights current issues with Medicare reimbursement that projected payment cuts will exacerbate and asks Congress to act by:

• Offsetting the 4.47% reduction to the Medicare physician conversion factor;
• Waiving the 4% statutory Pay-As-You-Go sequester; and,
• Extending the 5% alternative payment model (APM) incentive payment for six additional years.

Further, MGMA encouraged Congress to pass additional commonsense legislation to address significant administrative burdens impacting group practices and improve the timeliness of clinical care delivery. These recommendations included passing the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act, extending telehealth waivers for at least two years after the conclusion of the public health emergency, passing the Saving Access to Laboratory Services Act, and appropriating additional funds to continue rewarding high performing clinicians within the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS).

Visit MGMA’s Contact Congress portal to send a letter to your legislators on these important issues!