Extended 2019 MIPS Deadline and COVID-19 Exemption

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has announced two new accommodations for 2019 participants in the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System: a new exemption and an extended deadline for MIPS reporting.

Penalty Exemption

If you don’t report 2019 MIPS, you will automatically be exempt from the 7% 2021 payment penalty. 

CMS has announced that “MIPS eligible clinicians who have not submitted any MIPS data by April 30, 2020 will qualify for the automatic extreme and uncontrollable circumstances policy and will receive a neutral payment adjustment for the 2021 MIPS payment year.”

A neutral payment adjustment means that you will get no payment penalty, and also no bonus. However, if you — or your colleagues, if reporting as a group — report on at least two performance categories, you will be assigned a 2019 MIPS final score and a payment adjustment will be applied to your 2021 Medicare Part B payments.

New April 30 Deadline

If you want to earn a 2021 bonus for your 2019 MIPS performance, the CMS reporting deadline has been extended.

If you weren’t signed up to report MIPS via the IRIS® Registry, you can report via the CMS Quality Payment Program (QPP) portal, and the deadline for doing so has been extended from March 31 to April 30, 8 p.m. ET. You will need to register with CMS, if you haven’t already done so. CMS has created several videos to help you through the MIPS submission process.

Reporting Via the IRIS Registry

The Academy’s formal deadline for reporting 2019 MIPS via the IRIS^® Registry has now passed. However, if you were unable to complete your MIPS reporting due to the pandemic’s disruption, the IRIS Registry may be able to help you over the finish line — but you must email irisregistry@aao.org as soon as possible.

What about COVID-19 MIPS 2020?

CMS has not yet announced whether it will make special accommodations for the current MIPS performance year. The best way to stay up to date with MIPS is to bookmark the Academy's Medicare web page. AAOE^® members should also subscribe to the eTalk listserv and check their inboxes each Sunday for Practice Management Express.