Medicare patients will have coverage for medical devices the FDA designates as breakthrough technology under a proposed rule released this morning.
Once the Medicare Coverage of Innovative Technology (MCIT) final rule goes into effect, national Medicare coverage will begin on the date of a breakthrough device’s FDA market authorization would begin and continue for 4 years.
The proposed rule, scheduled to be published September 1 in the Federal Register, has been under discussion for years and would remedy a nationwide patchwork of Medicare coverage for such devices. Currently, a breakthrough device may be covered in one state or area of a state and not another, depending upon a local coverage determination made by a Medicare administrative contractor.
