CMS Requests Comments on Coverage With Evidence Development

Beltway Briefings, December 2011 -- On Nov. 8, CMS announced a request for public comment on its Coverage with Evidence Development (CED) policy. Coverage conditioned on additional data collection can be required under a Medicare national coverage determination (NCD). CMS has requested comments specifically pertaining to:

• Implementation of CED through the NCD process or other avenues under Medicare Parts A and B;
• The potential impact of CED on the Medicare program and its beneficiaries; and
• Suggested CED approaches that can maximize benefit to Medicare beneficiaries.

STS plans to provide comments to CMS, outlining its recent experiences with an STS/American College of Cardiology joint request for an NCD.