The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) this week officially withdrew a proposed rule that would have implemented a new Medicare Part B drug payment model.
The model, proposed in March 2016, included a mandatory five-year initiative that would have reduced Medicare payments to providers for physician-administered drugs. The initiative also would have tested value-based purchasing arrangements aimed at lowering drug spending. In December 2016, a CMS spokesperson announced the model would not be implemented during President Obama’s administration.
In the notice published this week, CMS cited public comment as the reason for withdrawing the proposal. The agency received more than 1,300 public comments, mostly against the proposal. America’s Essential Hospitals submitted comments to CMS last May, urging the agency to withdraw the proposal because of concerns about its effects on clinician judgment and clinically complex patients.
Contact Director of Policy Erin O’Malley at eomalley@essentialhospitals.org or 202.585.0127 with questions.
