Congress has extended the advanced alternative payment model incentive payment an additional year as part of its year-end omnibus deal.
Advanced APMs are an element of the CMS quality payment program, according to a Feb. 7 release from the California Medical Association. This program offers incentives for meeting thresholds based on the levels of patients or payments through advanced APMs.
This extension allows qualifying APM participants for the 2023 performance period who are clinicians to receive a 3.5 percent APM incentive in the 2025 payment year. Had the program not been extended, there would have been a one year gap without incentives for participating.
The participation threshold to be a qualifying APM participant remains the same through the extension, according to the release. Qualifying clinicians must receive at least 35 percent of Medicare patients or at least 50 percent of Medicare Part B payments through an advanced APM entity.