Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has reopened the submission process for hardship exception applications for those hoping to avoid 2015 Medicare payment adjustments for not demonstrating Meaningful Use (MU) before the 2014 deadlines.
New November 30, 2014 deadline
The new deadline for eligible professionals (EPs) and eligible hospitals (EHs) to apply for a hardship exception is November 30, 2014. The deadline had been July 1, 2014.
Who is eligible?
In recent days, a number of first-time MU participants interested in invoking the CMS 2014 CEHRT (MU) Flexibility Rule learned that they would be unable to attest under the flexibility options until after the attestation filing deadline (October 1 for EPs and July 1 for EHs). According to CMS:
“This reopened hardship exception application submission period is for eligible professionals and eligible hospitals that:
- “Have been unable to fully implement 2014 Edition CEHRT due to delays in 2014 Edition CEHRT availability; AND
- “Eligible professionals who were unable to attest by October 1, 2014 and eligible hospitals that were unable to attest by July 1, 2014 using the flexibility options provided in the CMS 2014 CEHRT Flexibility Rule.
- “These are the only circumstances that will be considered for this reopened hardship exception application submission period. Applications must be submitted by 11:59 PM EST November 30, 2014.”
Who is Subject to the 2015 Payment Adjustments?
The 2015 Medicare payment adjustment (penalty) applies to EPs who:
- Previously attested to MU successfully, but failed to do so in 2013
- Never successfully attested to MU and failed to do so by October 1, 2014
The 2015 Medicare payment adjustment (penalty) also applies to EHs that:
- Previously attested to MU successfully, but failed to do so in 2013
- Never successfully attested to MU and failed to do so by July1, 2014
No vendor letter required for eligible clients
NextGen Healthcare clients to whom the above applies and who plan to invoke the 2014 Flexibility Rule provisions should file a hardship application before the November 30 deadline. The CMS hardship application does not require a vendor letter.
More Information on Hardship and MU 2014 Flexibility
- CMS Payment Adjustments and Hardship Exceptions webpage
- NextGen Healthcare MU Page on Knowledge Exchange