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MACRA Summary / Timeline From AMA



HR 2, the “Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015” or “MACRA,” was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on March 26 (by a vote of 392 to 37) and the Senate on April 14 (by a vote of 92 to 8), and signed into law on April 16, 2015. This bipartisan legislation permanently repeals the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula and stabilizes Medicare payments for physician services with positive updates from July 1, 2015, through the end of 2019, and again in 2026 and beyond. It replaces Medicare’s multiple quality reporting programs with a new single “MIPS” program that makes it easier for physicians to earn rewards for providing high-quality, high-value healthcare, and it supports and rewards physicians for participating in new payment and delivery models to improve the efficiency of care while preserving fee-for-service as an option. In addition, it preserves the current 10-day and 90-day global periods for over 4,000 surgical service codes that Medicare had planned to unbundle.

Click here for a detailed, section-by-section HR 2 / MACRA summary:

  • Title I — SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Payment Modernization
  • Title II — Medicare and Other Health Expenditures
  • Title III — The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) 
  • Title IV — Offsets
  • Title V — Miscellaneous 

Click here for an HR 2 / MACRA timeline:

  • 2015
  • 2016
  • 2017
  • 2018
  • 2019
  • 2020
  • 2021
  • 2026 and Beyond


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