Medicare will nationally cover extracorporeal photopheresis for the treatment of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome in lung transplant patients, but only when the procedure is done as part of a clinical research study meeting certain conditions. CMS announced the policy in a final decision issued May 2. (See Also see "Reimbursement In Brief" - Medtech Insight, 6 February, 2012..) In a new twist also seen in a recent bariatric surgery coverage proposal, the agency said the ECP clinical studies must be approved within two years; if there are no approved studies by May 2, 2014, the coverage policy will expire. (See Also see "CMS Obesity Coverage Proposal Includes Sunset Deadlines For CED Studies" - Medtech Insight, 9 April, 2012..)
The policy expands on the Medicare-allowed uses of extracorporeal photopheresis, a procedure in which a patient's white blood cells are isolated and killed through exposure to the drug 8-methoxypsoraien and...