VIEW NAAOP VIDEO AND IMPORTANT UPDATE - Draft Prosthetic LCD WILL NOT be Finalized!
NAAOP
Description
Collection
Title:
VIEW NAAOP VIDEO AND IMPORTANT UPDATE - Draft Prosthetic LCD WILL NOT be Finalized!
Creator:
NAAOP
Date:
11/4/2015
Text:
Draft Prosthetic LCD Will NOT be Finalized!
More Work Required to Arrive at Appropriate Medicare Coverage Policy
Please view video link below and update:
Draft Prosthetic LCD Will NOT be Finalized!
< <URL Redacted>>
<URL Redacted>
After spending weeks waiting for the White House to respond to the
NAAOP-created We the People Petition calling on the President to rescind
the draft Local Coverage Determination (LCD) for Lower Limb Prostheses,
NAAOP is pleased that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
WILL NOT FINALIZE the flawed draft LCD! This removes the immediate threat
that this unwarranted and poorly-supported policy posed to patient access to
modern prosthetic care. Derailing the draft LCD was Job One for NAAOP, other
organizations in the prosthetic, rehabilitation and disability communities,
and thousands of individuals who united to express their concerns. The
controversial draft LCD generated over 100,000 petition signatures in just
17 days this past August, obligating the White House to formally respond.
Considering how rare it is for CMS to reconsider LCDs, this is an important
short-term victory. But our work on this issue is far from over.
While the draft LCD is essentially on hold, CMS will convene a
multidisciplinary Lower Limb Prostheses Interagency Workgroup in 2016. The
Workgroup will be comprised solely of federal employees from various
agencies with some familiarity with limb prosthetics. The Workgroup is
charged with developing a consensus statement that informs Medicare policy
by reviewing the available clinical evidence that defines best practices in
the care of beneficiaries who require lower limb prostheses. The Workgroup
will also seek to identify evidence gaps and recommend study designs and
outcome measures that inform function, quality of life and service
satisfaction in this area.
Patients and providers from outside the government will not be included in
the Workgroup. This is because of federal rules that prohibit private
citizens from serving on advisory panels in most circumstances. But the
White House and CMS statements say that they will ensure there is
opportunity for public comment and engagement with the Workgroup's
activities. A meeting is already being set up with CMS officials to explore
how the public will be able to impact the deliberations of the Workgroup.
The meeting will also include discussions designed to ensure that CMS and
its contractors remove the draft LCD from their websites so that private
insurers and other payers do not adopt draft CMS policy as if it were final
coverage policy. Unfortunately, this already occurred in September when
United Healthcare discontinued coverage for vacuum socket technology just
seven days after the comment period on the draft LCD ended. For this reason,
NAAOP intends to continue pressing CMS and its contractors to formally
rescind the draft LCD.
The White House/CMS announcements are a major first step forward and we
commend them for listening to our concerns and putting a stop to the draft
LCD. The decision underscores how patients with limb loss, prosthetists,
physicians, rehabilitation providers, and members of the disability
community can band together to effect positive change. NAAOP would like to
thank its board of directors and members, O&P Alliance partners, the Amputee
Coalition, thousands of individuals, other organizations, O&P clinics,
providers, manufacturers, researchers and educators for their collective
efforts to challenge the draft LCD.
Contact Peter Thomas at 202-455-6550 or <Email Address Redacted> for further
information.
Please visit our website at: www.naaop.org
NAAOP
1501 M Street, NW
7th Floor
Washington, DC 20005-1700
e-mail: <Email Address Redacted>
(800) 622-6740
(202) 624-0064 Phone
(202) 785-1756 Fax
www.naaop.org
More Work Required to Arrive at Appropriate Medicare Coverage Policy
Please view video link below and update:
Draft Prosthetic LCD Will NOT be Finalized!
< <URL Redacted>>
<URL Redacted>
After spending weeks waiting for the White House to respond to the
NAAOP-created We the People Petition calling on the President to rescind
the draft Local Coverage Determination (LCD) for Lower Limb Prostheses,
NAAOP is pleased that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
WILL NOT FINALIZE the flawed draft LCD! This removes the immediate threat
that this unwarranted and poorly-supported policy posed to patient access to
modern prosthetic care. Derailing the draft LCD was Job One for NAAOP, other
organizations in the prosthetic, rehabilitation and disability communities,
and thousands of individuals who united to express their concerns. The
controversial draft LCD generated over 100,000 petition signatures in just
17 days this past August, obligating the White House to formally respond.
Considering how rare it is for CMS to reconsider LCDs, this is an important
short-term victory. But our work on this issue is far from over.
While the draft LCD is essentially on hold, CMS will convene a
multidisciplinary Lower Limb Prostheses Interagency Workgroup in 2016. The
Workgroup will be comprised solely of federal employees from various
agencies with some familiarity with limb prosthetics. The Workgroup is
charged with developing a consensus statement that informs Medicare policy
by reviewing the available clinical evidence that defines best practices in
the care of beneficiaries who require lower limb prostheses. The Workgroup
will also seek to identify evidence gaps and recommend study designs and
outcome measures that inform function, quality of life and service
satisfaction in this area.
Patients and providers from outside the government will not be included in
the Workgroup. This is because of federal rules that prohibit private
citizens from serving on advisory panels in most circumstances. But the
White House and CMS statements say that they will ensure there is
opportunity for public comment and engagement with the Workgroup's
activities. A meeting is already being set up with CMS officials to explore
how the public will be able to impact the deliberations of the Workgroup.
The meeting will also include discussions designed to ensure that CMS and
its contractors remove the draft LCD from their websites so that private
insurers and other payers do not adopt draft CMS policy as if it were final
coverage policy. Unfortunately, this already occurred in September when
United Healthcare discontinued coverage for vacuum socket technology just
seven days after the comment period on the draft LCD ended. For this reason,
NAAOP intends to continue pressing CMS and its contractors to formally
rescind the draft LCD.
The White House/CMS announcements are a major first step forward and we
commend them for listening to our concerns and putting a stop to the draft
LCD. The decision underscores how patients with limb loss, prosthetists,
physicians, rehabilitation providers, and members of the disability
community can band together to effect positive change. NAAOP would like to
thank its board of directors and members, O&P Alliance partners, the Amputee
Coalition, thousands of individuals, other organizations, O&P clinics,
providers, manufacturers, researchers and educators for their collective
efforts to challenge the draft LCD.
Contact Peter Thomas at 202-455-6550 or <Email Address Redacted> for further
information.
Please visit our website at: www.naaop.org
NAAOP
1501 M Street, NW
7th Floor
Washington, DC 20005-1700
e-mail: <Email Address Redacted>
(800) 622-6740
(202) 624-0064 Phone
(202) 785-1756 Fax
www.naaop.org
Citation
NAAOP, “VIEW NAAOP VIDEO AND IMPORTANT UPDATE - Draft Prosthetic LCD WILL NOT be Finalized!,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 6, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/237851.
