MEDIA ADVISORY
MEDICAL TECH CAUCUS TO HOLD FORUM ON HCFA COVERAGE
POLICY
WASHINGTON -- Reps. Jim Ramstad (R-MN) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA),
co-chairs of the bipartisan House Medical Technology Caucus, announced
today that the Caucus will hold a forum to update members on the Health
Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) proposed Medicare coverage
decision process.
The Caucus meeting will be held from 1:00 -- 2:00 pm on Thursday,
February 25th in H-137, the Capitol.
Speakers will include:
Jeffrey L. Kang, M.D., M.P.H., Director of the Office of
Clinical Standards and Quality, and Chief Clinical Officer at HCFA;
and
F. Thomas (Jay) Watkins, III., President, Guidant Cardiac and
Vascular Surgery Group.
Background
Since Medicare began in 1965, the state of health care in America has
changed dramatically, especially in the area of medical technology.
While federal law provides for the coverage of various categories of
benefits, it does not specify a list of covered technologies and
services. This has led to many questions about which technologies and
services Medicare should cover, as well as the process by which these
decisions are made.
Over the past decade, HCFA has been reviewing different proposals on
how best to make these important coverage decisions. Last year, HCFA
released a draft outline for its proposed Medicare coverage decision
process and replaced its Technology Advisory Committee (TAC) with the
Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee (MCAC).
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