On Monday, February 3, CMS announced that the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) will automatically apply the Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances (EUC) policy to MIPS-eligible clinicians in specific counties affected by the recent California wildfires, for both the 2024 and 2025 performance periods. Clinicians in these areas will be automatically identified, with all four performance categories will be reweighted to 0% for both years, resulting in a score equal to the MIPS performance threshold, and leading to a neutral payment adjustment for the 2026 and 2027 payment years. However, if these clinicians submit data for two or more performance categories during either or both performance years, they will be scored in those categories and receive a payment adjustment.
It's important to note that this automatic EUC policy does not apply to MIPS-eligible clinicians participating as a group, subgroup, virtual group, or Alternative Payment Model (APM) Entities. However, these entities can request reweighting through the EUC Exception application.
Additional information is available through the 2024 MIPS Automatic EUC Policy Fact Sheet and 2025 MIPS Automatic EUC Policy Fact Sheet. Please contact Academy staff at healthpolicy@aapmr.org with any questions or concerns.