Medicare expands its coverage of costly cancer breakthrough
Source: Bloomberg News
August 07, 2019 09:13 PM 3 HOURS AGO
The feds said the move is part of a new policy to standardize how patients get access to therapies, ensure widespread coverage and help hospitals better offset the substantial cost that can come with administering them.
(Bloomberg) — The U.S. government will expand payment nationwide for breakthrough blood-cancer treatments from Novartis AG and Gilead Sciences Inc. whose use has by stymied by uneven reimbursement from federal health programs.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Wednesday that the move is part of a new policy to standardize how patients get access to therapies, ensure widespread coverage and help hospitals better offset the substantial cost that can come with administering them.
The rule requires careful monitoring of the treatments for safety, and will only apply to facilities that are participating in programs to track long-term results. The government also agreed to pay for the therapies in some uses that haven’t officially been approved, but that CMS-backed experts have found are medically acceptable.
“It’s important for our beneficiaries to have access to the latest treatments and therapies,” CMS Administrator Seema Verma said in a conference call with reporters. “This is lifesaving treatment for people who really don’t have any other options.”
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