CMS has issued its, Calendar Year 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule, which includes policies for the Quality Payment Program for the 2026 performance year and beyond. This rule will be published on November 5, 2025, in the Federal Register.
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The Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) Value Pathways (MVPs) registration window is open for the 2025 performance year. Individuals, groups, subgroups, and Alternative Payment Model (APM) Entities that wish to report an MVP can register until December 1, 2025, at 8 p.m. ET.
By James Pelletier – CMS’s 2025 rule focuses on refining the QPP to support improved interoperability, reducing reporting burdens, and increasing flexibility for participants. For MIPS, MVPs, and APMs, the updates emphasize quality, efficiency, and tailored reporting options.
By David R. Burda – HCPLAN’s latest annual report is another reminder that the transition to APMs has stalled out. Many consider HCPLAN’s annual report as the gold standard for measuring the transition to APMs. It breaks down payment models into four categories.
By David Burda – APMs are reimbursement models that put providers at financial risk for the care that they provide to their patients. APMs take many forms. The AMA report covers four basic forms: pay-for-performance, capitation, bundled payments and shared shavings.
By Matthew D. Bayley MD – Each year the Medical Group Management Association surveys hundreds of group practices to assess how industry regulations are impacting them. Just as in previous years, the most recent survey shows things are getting worse, not better.
More than 800 health care associations, ACOs, medical practices, and health systems urged leaders in Congress in a letter sent to extend incentive payments.
By David Burda – One of my favorite scenes in The Princess Bride is when Miracle Max tells Inigo and Fezzik that Westley is “mostly dead,” which means he’s “slightly alive.” There’s hope for a full recovery. We can say the same thing about value-based reimbursement, if we have as much faith in a few recent VBR status reports as Inigo and Fezzik have in Miracle Max.
The National Association of ACOs praises the work of congressional offices that saved important value-based payment incentives by including a provision in a year-end spending and COVID-relief bill.