MACRA: The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act

The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) that was signed into law in April 2015 is setting up groundbreaking changes to the way physicians are paid by Medicare.

For starters, the act permanently repealed the hopelessly flawed sustainable growth rate formula, preventing a 21 percent cut to Medicare reimbursement rates. But it also extends the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for two years and sets up a new, two-track Medicare physician payment system that emphasizes value-based payment models.

The AAFP is pulling no punches to make sure family physicians are poised to make the most of this new era of value-based payment -- working in Washington to show legislators and regulators how the law can best support primary care, while at the same time showing individual family physicians the concrete steps they can take to succeed in MACRA's new payment and quality reporting framework.

Keep an eye on AAFP News for timely updates about how the AAFP is flexing its muscles to shape MACRA into a tool that properly compensates family physicians for what they do better than anyone else -- provide high-quality, comprehensive, compassionate care for their patients.