Bowling Green Today

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), who serves as the Chair of the Health Subcommittee on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, introduced The National Coverage Determination Transparency Act, which will increase transparency for the National Coverage Determination process at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

“One of my top priorities as Chairman of the Health Subcommittee is to increase transparency across the health care sector. In addition to knowing the true costs of care, patients, especially seniors, deserve access to the most innovative treatments. By increasing the transparency of the National Coverage Determination process, seniors will be able to access care as quickly as possible through a more predictable regulatory process. I will always work to ensure Americans receive the best and most expedient care possible, and this bill helps to accomplish that goal,” said Guthrie.

Background

The National Coverage Determination (NCD) process at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) operates with little transparency and often misses it’s current statutory deadlines, leaving innovators, providers, and most importantly seniors, at the mercy of this opaque process.

This legislation tackles this issue through a three-pronged approach:

·       Clarifies that the timeline for making a National Coverage Determination begins on the date the Secretary receives a National Coverage Determination application.

·        Requires the Secretary to determine within 30 days of receiving such applications whether these are complete and further allows the Secretary to work directly with the product sponsor to update the application to resubmit to CMS.

·       Finally, requires the Secretary to make all complete NCD applications publicly available on CMS’ website.

Click here to view the text of the National Coverage Determination Transparency Act.

Original source can be found here.