With the passage of the Patient Access and Medicare Protection Act, officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will have the option of allowing payments for equipment and services that cannot be categorically classified as being needed for "meaningful use."
The green-lighting of this legislation was lauded by officials from the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).
"This heralds a reprieve to physician practices that are unable to successfully attest to meaningful use for 2015 through no fault of their own," AAFP President Dr. Wanda Filer said. "Although this legislation will not resolve more global troubles with the meaningful use program, it does allow CMS to more easily hold physicians harmless for the problematic timing of the Stage II Modifications Rule."
Filer said the legislation is good news for Medicare patients, too.
"Without this legislative solution, CMS would not have authority to issue hardship waivers for 2015 except on a case-by-case basis," she said. "This legislative solution will more easily allow CMS to make physicians whole. It prevents penalties from being assessed against physicians who cannot meet impossible requirements within an inadequate time frame."
