Reimbursement for brachytherapy seeds assured through 2009
The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008, enacted July 15, prolongs Medicare’s reimbursement safeguards (first enacted in 2003) for brachytherapy seeds given to hospital outpatients through Dec. 31, 2009. The new extension ensures that Medicare will not implement possibly restrictive reimbursement caps during this period.
The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008, enacted July 15, prolongs Medicare’s reimbursement safeguards (first enacted in 2003) for brachytherapy seeds given to hospital outpatients through Dec. 31, 2009. The new extension ensures that Medicare will not implement possibly restrictive reimbursement caps during this period.
Effective Jan. 1, 2008, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a rule that would have fixed the per-seed reimbursement rate to hospitals; however, the new act delays implementation of fixed per-seed rates until Jan. 1, 2010.
