Medtech POV Blog

CMS Policy Update Breathes New Life into Care Options for Medicare Beneficiaries

  1. Scott Whitaker President & Chief Executive Officer

Last week, we celebrated an important CMS policy update: Under a new rule, called Medicare Coverage of Innovative Technology (MCIT), as soon as the FDA approves a new breakthrough technology – technologies that by definition treat life-threatening or irreversibly debilitating conditions and conditions for which there are no treatments or for which existing treatments are lacking – Medicare can cover that breakthrough technology.

Today, in an op-ed in Morning Consult, AdvaMed President and CEO Scott Whitaker encouraged the Biden administration to work with our industry to implement and strengthen the rule, saying, “Too many seniors’ lives depend on it.”

Scott explained, “This crucial change to federal law will leave the decision about whether a breakthrough medical technology is right for your grandfather precisely where it belongs: between your grandfather and his doctor. If it is the right choice, Medicare will pay for it; if it is not, then at least that medical technology is available through Medicare to other seniors who could benefit from it.”

Scott concluded his note with a direct appeal to President Biden: “We look forward to working with the Biden administration’s leaders at CMS to ensure that this bipartisan policy is here to stay.”

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