Appendix C
Medicare and Medicaid Incentives
If you are an eligible professional who qualifies for Medicare or Medicaid payments through Meaningful Use of a certified EHR system, you can score up to five years’ worth of incentive payments starting as early as 2011. Now, how much you can potentially receive depends on the year you begin qualifying. Here is the payment breakdown:
If your first qualifying year is 2011 or 2012, you can receive up to $18,000 in EHR-related incentives.
If you don’t apply until 2013, the annual incentive payment limits in the first through fourth years are $15,000, $12,000, $8000, and $4000, respectively, for a total of $39,000.
The maximum amount of incentive payments you can receive under Medicare is $44,000. That’s not chump change.
If you meet the Medicaid patient volume requirements, you can receive a higher potential first year payment, which is an incentive payment of $21,250 and a total of $63,750. Your timing to receive this payment is limited by your state’s level of readiness to process Medicaid payments for Meaningful Use, so it will be important to check with your specific state’s Medicaid office or REC to obtain this information.
The following tables show how the incentives and potential reductions are expected to work from 2011–2017.
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Medicare Incentive Payment Schedule |
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First Payment Year |
First Payment Year Amount, and Subsequent Payment Amounts in Following Years |
Reduction in Fee Schedule for Non-Adoption/Use |
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2011 |
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