The Department of Health and Human Services and private payers have promised to streamline the controversial prior authorization processes in a bid to reduce the attendant controversies.

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission advised Congress that inflation is taking a bite out of physician pay and Medicare payments may have to increase in order to preserve patient access to care.

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalized a coverage policy for at-home ventilation for patients with chronic respiratory failure. The amended policy also establishes a series of criteria for coverage of ventilation for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Medicare Advantage plans have been controversial for several reasons, and the Advanced Medical Technology Association has now made the argument that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services should require these plans to replicate the terms of the Medicare new technology add-on program.

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reported a request for information for a modernized digital health ecosystem that would presumably improve beneficiary access to digital health technologies.

Physicians aren’t the only ones who see prior authorization (PA) practices as a significant problem, but John Brooks, deputy administrator at CMS, told a med tech audience that a renewed focus on Medicare Advantage plans’ use of PA will not yield tangible results overnight.

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will hold an advisory meeting regarding devices for treatment of symptoms for Parkinson’s disease, but the agency indicated that it expects to see longer-term data for these treatments if manufacturers want Medicare coverage.

The Advanced Medical Technology Association released a policy proposal for AI in medical devices that took the U.S, FDA to task for its guidance for predetermined change control protocols for AI, stating that the guidance is “inconsistent with the statutory authority” for PCCPs.

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services decided to peel back a series of local coverage determinations for skin substitute grafts that provoked a vigorous response from stakeholders.

The American Medical Association’s CPT editorial panel will meet May 1-3 to consider codes for several devices and services, but the most important of these might be the code for cardiac contractility modulation.