The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has pulled off the gloves when it comes to spending on skin substitutes in the draft Medicare physician fee schedule for 2026, proposing a payment methodology that would slash spending by 90%. However, the doc fee draft also proposes to simplify the process by which telehealth coverage is provided for a physician service, a move that may significantly expand the types of services that can be handled without an in-office visit.

To the surprise of no one in the device industry, the Medicare national coverage analysis for renal denervation (RDN) includes both radiofrequency and ultrasound technologies, but the agency has listed a range of specialists to be part of the patient’s care team, including but not limited to an endocrinologist.

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services indicated it will act on a previous proposal to terminate the Treatment Choices Model for ESRD at the end of the current calendar year because of a failure of the program to deliver on the promised efficiencies and improvement in outcomes.

The final Medicare coverage memo for transcatheter edge-to-edge repair for tricuspid valve regurgitation largely replicates the April 2025 draft, but cardiology centers will not have to bring an electrophysiologist to the patient’s care team to be permitted to practice these devices.

The U.S. Office of Inspector General issued a report stating the Medicare program often pays for physician services that are not performed post-surgery, but the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services responded it is in no position to immediately begin tracking all excess payments under these global codes.

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services posted the draft home health rule for calendar year 2026, which includes a proposal to subject continuous glucose monitors and insulin pumps to competitive bidding, but the agency is also considering a more rapid pace of replacement of these technologies.

The U.S. Department of Justice reported June 30 that several hundred defendants were charged with health care fraud of more than $14 billion, but the more important news may be that federal agencies are standing up a data sharing system that will make this kind of enforcement more effective.

Without using the words “universal” or “nationwide,” a U.S. district judge granted a preliminary injunction July 1 to stop the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) reorganization plan, along with any workforce reduction that’s part of the plan.

The U.K. National Health Service may or may not deploy transcatheter aortic valve replacement devices as widely as in the U.S., but the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence officially staked out the position the data are not yet compelling for anyone other than high risk patients.