Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) Funding Opportunity: Measure Development for the Quality Payment Program

The Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services funds development, improvement, updating, and expansion of quality measures for use in the Quality Payment Program under MACRA (Assistance Listing 93.986), with the most recent grant awards issued on September 14, 2018.

Program activity has stalled. Seven cooperative agreements totaling $24.7 million in federal dollars obligated were awarded in 2018; no grant awards have been disbursed in the eight years since. The most recent posted grant opportunity (CMS-1V1-18-002, "Measure Development for the Quality Payment Program") closed on June 5, 2018, and no subsequent solicitations appear in the source. This program shows no current activity.

When active, the program funded quality measure development across clinical domains. Recent awards funded measure development projects including continuity of pharmacotherapy for opioid use disorder ($443,700), palliative care measures ($5.5 million), orthopedic outcomes (Measuring Orthopedic Outcomes Routinely, $5.7 million), computed tomography quality and safety ($4.9 million), and mental health and substance use care measures (multiple awards totaling several million dollars). Award magnitudes ranged from approximately $444 thousand to $5.7 million.

All seven awards in the portfolio are Cooperative Agreements (100 percent of the assistance-type mix), indicating active CMS engagement and oversight during measure development. Funding came entirely from CMS (100 percent of award count and federal dollars obligated across the portfolio).

Eligible applicants were explicitly restricted to entities external to both CMS and other federal agencies, including clinical specialty societies, clinical professional organizations, patient advocacy organizations, educational institutions, independent research organizations, health systems, and other entities engaged in quality measure development. The 2018 NOFO emphasized that applicants provide medical specialty and patient perspectives to advance the Quality Payment Program measure portfolio and address clinician engagement, consumer-informed decision-making, critical measure gaps, quality measure alignment, and efficient data collection.

No current grant opportunities are posted. Organizations pursuing this program would need to confirm whether CMS has resumed solicitations or intends to reopen this funding line.