The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is requesting comment on the 2023 Quality Payment Program (QPP) Proposed Rule, and this is your opportunity to make your voice heard! 

MarsdenAdvisors is advocating for our clients and will be submitting comments on the proposed rule. But one voice alone will not have the same impact as many, so we have developed a comment drafting tool and we encourage all stakeholders in MIPS, like providers and practice administrators, to use this tool and to submit comments on these potential changes.

The deadline for comment submission is September 6, 2022.

In this article, we will review the rule-making process and timeline, and how to join the important advocacy process to help make the 2023 QPP finalized rule better.

The Rule-Making Process and Timeline

Like other federal rules, the QPP goes through two versions-- the proposed rule and the finalized rule. A federal agency (in this case, CMS) submits a proposed rule to the federal register and once the proposed rule is published, the public has 60 days to submit comments on it.

For the 2023 year, the proposed rule was published to the federal register on July 7. Which means that comments on it are due on September 6, 2022. 

These comments can address proposed changes to any section of the rule, but usually comments focus on parts of the rule relevant to the commenter. This means you don't have to comment on everything. In some rules, you will find "Requests for Information" (RFIs) which are asks from CMS to see what people think about something more generally, rather than proposing an immediate change. A lot of times, these RFIs can give insight into what a federal agency is aspiring to do with the rule in future years, so they are worth paying attention to, even if you don't have comments for them yet. 

After 60 days have passed, CMS reads through and responds to the submitted comments. Unlike a ballot initiative, this process isn't simply counting up votes for and votes against, but rather a consideration of the policy's potential implications. Comments that have the best effect, in our experience include:

• personal experience, like how a measure is used by your practice to improve care. 
• consequences of policies that CMS may not have considered,
• and reflections of how a policy change could impact cost of care, quality of care, or access to care.

Once those comments are considered and responded to, CMS will issue a finalized rule sometime in mid-fall. This new (and hopefully improved) version of the rule will take effect in 2023. So, if you want to help CMS determine what policies they're proposing should end up in that rule, the commenting process is key.

We understand that submitting comments on a proposed rule for the first time can seem intimidating, but we also know it's a worthwhile endeavor and can help CMS enact policies that you support in the finalized rule. 

How to Make Your Voice Heard

1. Use our new online MarsdenAdvisors 2023 QPP Proposed Rule Comment Tool to guide you through the process of drafting your response. 
   • Our tool will help you draft your comments and will format them into a pdf for you to submit.
   • The tool includes MarsdenAdvisors' analysis of the key proposed changes and their potential impacts and an email guide to submission. This tool is completely free– so please share it with your colleagues.
2. Personalize your responses as much as possible. In our experience, CMS responds best to concrete examples.
3. When you finish using the tool, it will automatically email you a completed letter that you can submit to CMS using the proposed rule comment form.
   
   • The deadline for comment submission is September 6, 2022.

Remember: Unique comments are the most powerful advocacy tool we have at this phase of the comprehensive reevaluation process, so be sure to fill your comments with answers that point to the relevance of these discussions to your practice/organization. 

Next Steps

• If you have any questions, ask us. MarsdenAdvisors is happy to provide you with further information and guidance on submitting your comments to CMS. 
• Share this information and the MarsdenAdvisors 2023 QPP Proposed Rule Comment Tool with your colleagues. Anyone can use it to make drafting their comments easy and effective. 
• Subscribe to our newsletter to get alerts on this and other important issues. You can subscribe using the field in our website footer below.

If you want hands-on, personalized assistance, contact us and we will have your back.