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.

The controversy over budget scoring by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) once again prompted legislation that would overhaul the membership of a health advisory panel that may affect legislation dealing with the Medicare program. The Health Panel Act of 2025 requires the panel be composed of six members each appointed by Republicans and Democrats. The bill's sponsor said this is crucial to ensure diversity of political views, which is said to be lacking as the panel is currently constituted.

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 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.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation was founded with the objective of reducing Medicare spending, but many of the associated programs will be stood down by the end of this year thanks in part to a 2023 report detailing a significant increase, rather than a decrease, in spending associated with CMMI programs.

The U.S. Medicare draft inpatient rule for fiscal 2026 discusses a number of coding proposals, although the agency seems disinclined to go along with a proposal to increase payment rates for TAVR devices by switching the procedures to a different diagnostic-related group.