New Medicare payment plans for innovative meds, including CAR-T therapies

The USA’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed a rule that focuses the agency’s efforts on a singular objective: transforming the healthcare delivery system through competition and innovation to provide patients with better value and results.

The proposed rule would update Medicare payment policies for hospitals under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and the Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Prospective Payment System (PPS) for fiscal year 2020.

The proposed policies in the IPPS and LTCH PPS proposed rule would represent historic changes to the way rural hospitals are paid. These policies would support the agency’s priority of “Rethinking Rural Health” and help guarantee people living in rural America have access to high quality, affordable healthcare. The proposals would also help ensure that America continues to have access to a world-class healthcare system with access to potentially life-saving diagnostics and therapies by unleashing innovation in medical technology and removing barriers to competition.