This article is part of the July 2018 issue of ASBMT eNews. View the full issue in PDF format here.
By Stephanie Farnia, ASBMT Director of Health Policy and Strategic Relations
June was deadline month – the CMS NCA for CAR-T, the IPPS rule and several presentation due dates on top of it all. On June 14, we held our second Town Hall session — these are more informal opportunities for me to connect with members on key health policy issues that come up. I would welcome your feedback, as we plan to hold more of these Town Hall events as other important matters come about for ASBMT members. If you were unable to join the town hall, you can download the full presentation here.
Copies of the two key comment letters are available on the website: 1) CMS NCA for CAR-T and 2) CMS FY 2019 IPPS Proposed Rule. Thank you to all of you that engaged in the comment period process — it is crucially important for CMS to hear from you. After submitting the letter, we followed up with meetings with CMS, House Ways & Means Committee staff and representatives from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The OMB sounds like an odd one, but plays a key role in overseeing how the annual rules impact the budget — and CAR-T is definitely on their radar because of the cost. The IPPS FY 2019 Final Rule will be out by approximately August 1, so stay tuned.
In the CAR-T coverage arena, we have the August 22 MEDCAC meeting, held by CMS, on the horizon. The meeting will focus on Patient Reported Outcomes for CAR-T. I recently met with a small group of physicians and researchers expert in both PROs and CAR-T to develop talking points and draft presentations to submit to CMS for the meeting. The meeting is open to the public and will be shared via livestream as well; you can find official notice and more information on registration for the meeting here.
Finally, the CMS Hospital Outpatient Payment proposed rule is due out very soon — we’ll be sure to share a high-level summary and information on anything important to our field. Happy Summer!