March 29, 2021

On February 25, CMS announced it was applying an automatic exception to certain MIPS-eligible clinicians in addition to those who previously identified as located in a CMS-designated region affected by an extreme and uncontrollable event (such as a Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA-designated major disaster]) during the 2020 MIPS performance period. CMS is also re-opening the MIPS 2020 performance year COVID-19 Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances (EUC) exception application for certain MIPS eligible clinicians. Read the CMS Fact Sheet.

If you are not a clinician in a CMS-designated region affected by an extreme and uncontrollable event, use the below chart to identify if you are eligible for either an automatic application of the EUC, if you need to proactively submit an application, or if you are ineligible for this MIPS 2020 COVID-19 EUC.

For clinicians/groups eligible for the automatic exception, nothing else needs to be done if you would like to receive a neutral payment adjustment.

For groups and virtual groups that need to submit an application, you must do so by March 31, 2021.

If you are submitting data through the APMA MIPS App, and have questions related to this exception, please contact APMA Registry Manager Richard Schwarz at RLSchwarz@apma.org.

For more information about this re-opening and extension of this EUC exception related to COVID-19 for the 2020 performance year, visit https://qpp.cms.gov/resources/covid19. 

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