A group of GOP physician lawmakers are warning that the Obama administration’s proposed regulations could force doctors to spend less time with patients and more time reporting to the federal government.
In a letter to the administration, they said rules that will take effect under the Medicare Access and Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act could threaten patient health.
“If physicians are consumed with the administrative burdens under new reporting requirements, this may ultimately threaten the doctor-patient relationship,” said Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., one of the 18 lawmakers with medical backgrounds to sign the letter.
The law passed last year created a new payment system under Medicare and repealed the sustainable growth rate formula that Medicare had been using to determine how much money doctors got from the program.
Members of the Congressional Doctors Caucus sent their letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Office of Management and Budget on Thursday calling for more relaxed requirements for doctors when it comes to reporting on quality of care to the federal government.
The idea behind the reporting is to ensure that doctors will be reimbursed on the quality of care they provide and not just the older Medicare system of a fee-for-service.
But Republicans argue that the reporting requirements are too burdensome, and referenced a new system created by law called the Merit-based Incentive Payment System designed to streamline the process. Now, lawmakers want to make sure that the system is implemented properly and not “overly burdensome.”
For instance, the lawmakers suggest that CMS should broaden the doctors who are excluded from reporting under the system, such as if a doctor has a low volume of Medicare patients.
“There is no question MACRA will be an effective replacement to the SGR, but we have to ensure we get the implementation process done in a way that won’t negatively affect patient care,” said Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., another doctor, in a statement.
