Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Protests Seek To Attract Attention To Medicare's Prosthetics Policy Change
The Associated Press: Amputees Decry Medicare Payment Overhaul For Artificial Feet
Famous people don’t often get involved with Medicare payment policy, but a Boston Marathon bombing survivor and a former U.S. senator who lost a leg in wartime service have joined an industry campaign to block new requirements for artificial legs and feet. Medicare’s mounting cost for those items in the last 10 years — even as the number of amputees was declining — has prompted scrutiny from government investigators. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 8/27)
The Washington Post: Amputees Protest Proposed Medicare Changes For Artificial Limbs
Wednesday afternoon’s modest protest was organized to attract outsize attention to concerns by the nation’s amputees — and health practitioners who work with them — that the government might make it more difficult for older and disabled Americans to afford state-of-the-art artificial legs, or any artificial legs at all. Such changes are envisioned in a set of rules proposed by the four regional companies to which Medicare delegates responsibility for the program’s medical device benefits, including artificial limbs. (Goldstein, 8/26)
CNN: Amputees Fight Medicare Proposal To Limit Prosthetics
Amputee groups and prosthetic makers are rallying against a Medicare proposal they say will limit access to some limbs. Under the new proposal, Medicare would establish more stringent requirements to obtain advanced prosthetics, reduce the role of the prosthetist who creates and maintains prostheses, and eliminate some of the universal codes that all providers use to cover prosthetic care. (Kounang, 8/26)
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Protest Seeks To Block Medicare Policy Changes On Prosthetics Payments
The changes envisioned by Medicare, the government’s health insurance agency, revise coverage for what are called “definitive prosthetic components.” The proposed rules also require a medical exam by a doctor or health professional other than a prosthetics expert to determine “functionality.” Additionally, the rules mandate participation in a rehabilitation program before amputees can get a “definitive prothesis” and limit Medicare payments for certain adjustments to prosthetics, as well as coverage for certain kinds of prosthetic technology. (Spencer, 8/26)
