CMS issued its annual Inpatient Prospective Payment System final rule Aug. 2, which includes boosting reimbursements to hospitals for expensive new medical technologies, including last-resort cancer treatments known as CAR-T therapies.
Under the new rule, CMS will increase the maximum add-on payment for new technologies from 50 percent to 65 percent of estimated costs.
CMS Administrator Seema Verma said the increase will help patients access the potentially lifesaving treatments and reduce uncertainty about the payments.
Despite the reimbursement increase, some providers still aren't satisfied, The Washington Post reported, saying many wanted an increase of 80 percent to 100 percent of costs.
An oncologist quoted in the article and the American Hospital Association agreed that the increase was a step forward, albeit an incremental one.
Read more about the annual Inpatient Prospective Payment System final rule here.