Legislation In Brief
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Brachyatherapy coverage: Brachytherapy devices would be excluded from the hospital outpatient prospective payment system under bill introduced by Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.) March 11. The bill calls for the number, isotope and radioactive intensity to be paid for separately, including separate groups for palladium-103 and iodine-125, by creating additional groups of outpatient services and classifying them apart from other services. Theragenics (Theraseed palladium-103 seed) and the Coalition for the Advancement of Brachytherapy have been rebuffed repeatedly by CMS in attempts to get the agency to pay for prostate brachytherapy seeds separately, most recently in the 2003 OPPS final rule (1"The Gray Sheet" Nov. 11, 2002, p. 26). HR 1182 was referred to the Energy & Commerce and Ways & Means Committees...