HCFA
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Health Care Financing Administration cancels Oct. 1, 2000 implementation of an age restriction on national coverage for autologous stem cell transplantation (AuSCT) for multiple myeloma. The cut-off at age 77 was to serve as a proxy for predicting who would be susceptible to co-morbidities associated with the procedure; the agency will instead try to identify specific co-morbidities that could endanger patients. In order to be eligible for the procedure, patients must demonstrate adequate cardiac, renal, pulmonary and hepatic function