This was news to me, and though others may be fully aware, I thought I would share this info.
Each year the penalties for not participating in MIPS have grown and the requirements for participation have become tougher. Each year's penalty is determined by your activities two years prior. So, for example, your MIPS activities and submissions in 2019 determined your penalties (or theoretically bonuses) for 2021. Your submissions in 2020 determine your penalties this year - in 2022 the penalty is 9% of Medicare payments, so it is a significant hit.
Each year many of us have made the calculation as to whether the work required to meet these increasingly stringent requirements was worth all the effort, or perhaps we should just take the penalty.
What I did not know is that due to Covid, Medicare has issued hardship exemptions for all practitioners for 2020 and 2021. This means even if you sent in nothing for MIPS in 2019, 2020, or 2021, you will suffer no penalty from your payments in 2021, 2022, and 2023. This is a big deal, and while I should have noticed it previously, I am just becoming aware of it now.
The downside for some of you is that all the energy, time and effort you spent on meeting the guidelines in 2019-21 and submitting your data for those years was unnecessary (unless by some chance you were among the lucky few who actually got a bonus payment).
In fact, you may actually be penalized FOR participating. That is because if you submit NO data, you automatically get a hardship exemption. But if you submitted data, the exemption is not automatic (you must request it); if you sent in data but did not meet the point requirements, you would then get a penalty.
Does this affect anyone here? Did those of you who participate in MIPS know about this waver?
There is a small industry of companies "helping providers meet the MIPS requirements" (for profit, of course). This can be a good thing. On the other hand, I think it is only fair that those companies publicize the waver so that people do not participate unnecessarily (and perhaps to their detriment). I am looking at you, AC/Harris, among others....
Last edited by JBS; 05/07/2022 12:05 PM.
