Statement on MACRA Proposed Rule

As a strong advocate for the Medicare Access & CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, the AHA believes the new physician payment programs reflect the transformation happening in health care that hospitals and health systems have already embraced.

Tom Nickels
Executive Vice President
American Hospital Association

April 27, 2016

As a strong advocate for the Medicare Access & CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), the AHA believes the new physician payment programs reflect the transformation happening in health care that hospitals and health systems have already embraced. Today’s proposed rule will have a significant impact on America’s hospitals, and the more than 540,000 directly employed or contracted physicians with whom they partner to deliver quality care to patients and communities.

We are disappointed by CMS’s narrow definition of alternative payment models, which could have a chilling effect on providers’ ability to experiment with new patient-centered, value-driven payment models. Today’s rule fails to recognize the significant resources and risk assumed by the highly motivated, early adopters of alternative payment models.

In addition, providers are overwhelmed by conflicting, unfocused quality measure requirements that hinder hospitals and health systems ability to improve patient care. CMS’s proposal to reduce the number of required quality measures is a step in the right direction. We will continue to urge CMS to choose fewer, strategic quality performance measures and promote collaboration by developing hospital-based physician measure reporting options.

We continue to review the details of the proposed rule and look forward to working with CMS to improve this critical program.

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About the AHA

The AHA is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the health improvement of their communities. The AHA is the national advocate for its members, which include nearly 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks, other providers of care and 43,000 individual members. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends. For more information, visit the AHA website at www.aha.org.

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