Medicare already has the most complicated medical payment formulas found anywhere in the world. They are about to get a whole lot more complicated. You should care, even if you’re not a senior. That’s because employers and private insurers tend to pay doctors the same way Medicare pays.
What’s the point of this change? The government’s own website says that under the Medicare Access and Chip Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), Medicare will start paying doctors based on quality rather than quantity. If you ask most doctors, they will tell you they have been delivering quality care all along.