From a news release
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On February 18, Congressman Jason Smith, the Republican Leader of the House Budget Committee and a member of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, led a group of Ways and Means Republicans in writing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) expressing serious concerns about the agency’s plan to incorporate “anti-racism plans” as a quality metric for physicians under the Merit-based Incentive Payment Systems (MIPS). The members highlighted concerns that this new plan will result in the politicization of health care and result in fewer patients seeking care.
“Rather than trying to improve quality, reduce cost, or increase access, the Biden Administration is trying to force physicians to essentially apply Critical Race Theory to their health care delivery,” said. Rep. Jason Smith. “This new rule is outrageous because by forcing physicians to adopt progressive political ideologies into their practices, millions of patients who passionately disagree with this ideology will become more likely to not seek care and reduce the trust patients have in their physicians. This rule flies in the face of science and diminishes the quality of healthcare towards minorities. I’m proud to help fight this rule on behalf of patients who don’t want their doctor’s office to become Red Square.”
This new MIPS rule will define race as a “political and social construct, not a physiological one.” This approach dismisses medical facts that genetic differences between races exist which has a direct affect on their medical care. For instance, in their letter, the members cite how cystic fibrosis is significantly more common among White Americans, while sickle cell is significantly more common among Black Americans.
In the letter, the members state, “In other words, under this final rule, clinicians will have a greater incentive to hire a consultant to develop a plan and check the boxes required to appear to reduce prejudice rather than to take meaningful actions to improve health outcomes for individuals of racial minorities.” They continue, “…it is our belief that instead of promoting greater racial health equity, this final rule compromises the practice of medicine- prioritizing virtue-signaling over science- and could ultimately diminish care for the very patients CMS is seeking to help.”