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MACRA Committee Hearing and Ensuring Successful Implementation<\/strong> Also a statement by Senator Ron Wyden, \u201cFirst is to make sure all doctors who care for our seniors get fair treatment under these new rules. That\u2019s particularly important for the small or solo practitioners who are truly the backbone of rural communities.\u201d<\/p>\n CMS received 3875 comments during the public comment period on the proposed rule and they are currently reviewing and expect to issue final rulemaking in November. Andy Slavitt, CMS Acting Administrator expressed that the stakeholder feedback was valuable in developing the proposed rule and will also be so for the final regulation.\u00a0 Senator Hatch pointed out that once the final rule is released there are only 2 months before the program goes live and asked if there are any options CMS is considering.\u00a0 Andy Slavitt responded that CMS does remain open to multiple approaches such as alternative start dates or looking at whether shorter reporting periods can be used.<\/p>\n
\nOn July 13 a Senate Finance Committee Hearing was held with Chairman Orrin Hatch delivering the opening statements.\u00a0 One of note is the Senate’s awareness of the impact this may have on the clinicians.\u00a0 \u201cWe recognized the inherit challenges of these types of practices when we crafted the MACRA statute, and I know CMS is aware of these issues, but we need to make sure that the law is implemented in a way that works for these physicians and ensures that these practice settings remain viable options for Medicare beneficiaries.\u201d<\/p>\nYou may read the transcript or watch more detail on the Committee Hearing,