Government
Medicare drug option delayed
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Aug. 22, 2005
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services postponed launching a program designed to give doctors an alternative purchasing system for physician-administered drugs.
The competitive acquisition program, which would give doctors the option to obtain chemotherapy treatments and other Medicare Part B drugs from one of several vendors selected through a bidding process, will now start in July 2006. It was to start in January 2006. CMS has been promoting the initiative as an attractive option for doctors who don't have the time or resources to find the lowest drug prices on the open market.
Federal officials suspended the bidding process after an insufficient number of drug vendors decided to participate in the current competitive system, said pharmaceutical industry experts. CMS will start collecting bids about a month after it issues a final rule on the program later this year. Comments on an interim final rule issued earlier this year are due Sept. 6.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/08/22/gvbf0822.htm.
