NCART Wants HHS To Carve Out Rehab Products from NCB

Washington

The National Coalition for Assistive and Rehab Technology (NCART), a coalition formed in February to address issues specific to the rehab industry, says it will push for rehab products to be exempted from national competitive bidding.

In a position paper released in April, the organization said high-tech rehab products qualify under a provision of the Medicare Modernization Act allowing the Health and Human Services Secretary to exempt certain products when competitive acquisition “is not likely to result in significant savings.”

In addition, the paper points out the provision specifies that in implementing HHS’ competitive acquisition authority, “the secretary may consider the clinical efficiency and value of specific items within codes, including whether some items have a greater therapeutic advantage to individuals.”

According to the paper, NCART “feels the products and services provided by suppliers of high-tech rehab and assistive technology are exactly what Congress had in mind when drafting the ‘therapeutic advantage’ provision,” and calls for HHS to exempt such products from any form of competitive acquisition.

The organization also released two additional position papers. One describes the need for better-defined power wheelchair codes, appropriate clinical indicators, more precise coverage criteria and equitable reimbursement. The other outlines NCART’s stance on state-level consumer-protection legislation.

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