ARTICLE SUMMARY:
In this week’s roundup: CMS issued its highly awaited physician and hospital outpatient payment proposals, FDA released user fee rates, new recommendations from UK’s NICE, and more global medtech policy news.
CMS is a bit delayed this year in rolling out its annual payment rules, but they have started to stream out recently, including two important ones for the medtech space this week: the proposed 2021 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) and Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) regulations. All of this year’s rules must contend with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and how to incorporate some emergency policies into established Medicare frameworks. CMS’ headline for the PFS proposal is its plans to transition more of its pandemic telehealth reimbursement allowances into permanent policy. But the payment rules are long and multifaceted, and not all policies have a direct coronavirus link. Here are a few medtech highlights from the physician and outpatient regs, and more news from CMS, FDA, and the global policy community in this week’s Pathways’ Picks.
