Doctors worry CMS proposals will slow the move to value-based pay

An avalanche of new pay proposals from the CMS seeks to reduce provider burden, so much so that it could undermine efforts to shift Medicare to a value-based system, doctors warned.

The agency released a 1,400-page proposed rule July 12 that for the first time combined the annual physician fee schedule and the Medicare Quality Payment Program rules, which implements sections of MACRA each year.

Reducing burden on providers was the key goal of the document, according to the CMS, but doctors wonder if the agency went too far in some instances.

For instance, the agency estimated that 42% of physicians participating in Medicare in 2019—roughly 1.5 million doctors—will actually need to comply with one of MACRA’s two...