Proposed MCIT Rule Aims to Speed Senior Access to Breakthrough Devices

Carrying out another directive from President Trump’s Medicare-focused executive order issued last fall (RMA 10/17/19, p. 3), CMS on Aug. 31 released a proposed rule that aims to fast-track Medicare coverage of certain innovative FDA therapies once they are approved. Although the rule applies to Medicare fee for service, it has implications for Medicare Advantage organizations that are required to cover Medicare Parts A and B approved services.

According to a CMS fact sheet on the rule, CMS is proposing a new Medicare coverage pathway, Medicare Coverage of Innovative Technology (MCIT), for medical devices that are granted breakthrough designation by the FDA. The MCIT proposal would allow for national Medicare coverage on the same day as a breakthrough device receives FDA approval. CMS proposes a coverage duration of four years, which it suggests will “encourage manufacturers to voluntarily develop evidence to show these treatments improve the health of Medicare patients.”

© 2024 MMIT
Lauren Flynn Kelly

Lauren Flynn Kelly Managing Editor, Radar on Medicare Advantage

Lauren has been covering health business issues, including drug benefits and specialty pharmacy, for more than a decade. She served as editor of Drug Benefit News (the predecessor to Radar on Drug Benefits) from 2004 to 2005 and again from 2011 to 2016, and now manages Radar on Medicare Advantage. Lauren graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in English.

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