AdvaMed Urges Senate Action Following House Passage of Medicare LCD Improvement Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) issued the following statement from President and CEO Scott Whitaker after House passage of the Local Coverage Determination Clarification Act (H.R. 3635):

“Today Congress has made progress towards ensuring Medicare beneficiaries have access to the medical technologies and services they need. It is critically important that we improve the coverage process for medical technologies, so no American patient has to go without because of bureaucratic obstacles. 
 
“H.R. 3635 is an important first step in the coverage reform process, and includes needed changes to improve the transparency, predictability and accountability of CMS’s Local Coverage Determinations (LCD) so that these decisions are well publicized with the opportunity for all stakeholders to provide feedback.

“Reps. Lynn Jenkins (R-Mo.) and Ron Kind (D-Wis.) – the lead sponsors of H.R. 3635 – are to be commended for pushing a bipartisan, common-sense solution to address a challenging issue for Medicare beneficiaries. We call on the Senate to take up and pass this legislation in an expeditious manner.”