News Rundown: August 7, 2026

More Quality Metrics... But work requirements might "work"

1. CMS SAYS MIPS IS GOING AWAY. IT’S REPLACING IT WITH… MIPS.

What happened

The CY 2027 Physician Fee Schedule proposal would sunset traditional MIPS (that quality metric scoring system that doesn’t actually track quality) after the 2028 performance year and require physicians to transition to MIPS Value Pathways, or MVPs, beginning in 2029.

Although mips appears to be ending when you consider the transition to MVPs, the basic framework for mips will continue. In addition to continuing the quality, cost, improvement activities, and promoting interoperability categories, physicians will be required to meet a 75-point performance threshold and obtain a 75% level of completeness in their data submissions. While mvp participants will submit four quality measures, down from the six measures submitted in traditional mips, one of the four must always include a core measure unless an exception is applicable. Additionally, CMS is proposing the inclusion of electronic prior authorization REQUIREMENTS and evaluating a future transition to use fhir-based quality reporting methods.

Perhaps most tellingly, CMS is still soliciting feedback on how MVP scoring should ultimately work, including whether scores should be normalized within MVPs and whether larger bonuses for high performers should mean more physicians receiving penalties.