CMS will automatically apply disaster waiver to certain MIPS clinicians

Clinicians eligible for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System who live or practice in areas that were affected by Hurricanes Florence or Michael, or the California wildfires, will automatically qualify for the program’s extreme and uncontrollable circumstances policy unless they submit data for more than one MIPS performance category or are part of a group or virtual group that submits data on behalf of its clinicians, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced yesterday. “CMS understands that if you’re a clinician living or practicing in an area affected by Hurricane Florence and Hurricane Michael, you may experience difficulties collecting and submitting data for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System on time during the 2018 MIPS performance period,” the agency said. “Most recently, for those affected by Hurricane Florence, Hurricane Michael, and California wildfires we’ve tried to lessen your burden by not requiring you to submit an application to reweight the performance categories under MIPS.”