In some ways, remote patient monitoring (RPM) came of age during the COVID-19 pandemic, but payers still worry about the potential for fraud and abuse. A recent report from the U.S. Office of Inspector General supported concerns about fraud and abuse with RPM, a problem CMS will have to address to constrain unnecessary and potentially illicit spending.

The draft Medicare physician fee schedule for calendar year 2025 provoked a strong backlash from physician societies due to a net cut in physician pay. Device makers have their own concerns, including the latest in a series of controversies over coverage of skin substitutes.

The U.S. CMS believes it has a quandary on its hands with regard to transitional pass-through payment for renal denervation devices, but the Medical Device Manufacturers Association urged the agency to provide separate payment mechanisms for these devices as seen in the inpatient final rule.

The U.S. Department of Justice reported that THD America Inc., and its Italian corporate parent company agreed to pay $700,000 over inducing physicians to use incorrect payment codes in Medicare and Medicaid claims.

The U.S. CMS said its Medicare administrative contractors withdrew a draft local coverage determination that would have restricted the use of surveillance testing for allograft rejection.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office’s report on FDA oversight of medical devices acknowledges that the agency has made strides in its efforts to develop surveillance systems to track adverse events, but there are shortcomings.

Device makers and physicians alike were less than enthused about several features of the draft Medicare inpatient rule for fiscal year 2025, but thanks in part to support from the device industry, the final rule provides a new code that encompasses both left atrial appendage closure and ablation, a change that may reduce spending without dinging sales of these devices.

The U.S. CMS announced the release of the Transitional Coverage for Emerging Technologies policy, which is less than clear on the definition of a key term.

The U.S. CMS proposed a series of changes to the Medicare series of codes for diagnostic-related groups, and device makers had pointed remarks about some of those proposals.