June 22, 2021
** See Senator Shaheen’s remarks here **
(Washington, DC) – US Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Susan Collins (R-ME), co-chairs of the Senate Diabetes Caucus, have passed legislation to improve seniors’ access to breakthrough diabetes technologies how to expand the artificial pancreas and implantable continuous glucose monitoring systems. Senators spoke in the Senate yesterday to call on their colleagues to endorse their Medicare Beneficiaries’ Access to Innovative Diabetes Technologies Act, which would encourage the Department of Health (HHS) to provide seniors with access to the latest diabetes management technologies to help keep them healthy and lower their overall care costs.
“My family empathizes with the struggle that millions of other people with diabetes face and know only too well the hurdles they must overcome in order to navigate complex insurance networks in order to obtain the necessary medical equipment,” said Senator Shaheen. “As co-chair of the Diabetes Caucus Senate, I am proud to work with Senator Collins to introduce bipartisan laws to help people with diabetes access technology improve the quality of their lives. Our legislation would help guide Medicare’s rules so that coverage keeps pace with evolving diabetes technologies – and ensuring that the technology they need to lead healthy lives is not too expensive for anyone. “
“Technological advances are making diabetes easier to manage. However, bringing cutting-edge diabetes technologies to market will not be of immediate benefit to patients if older Americans cannot afford them, ”said Senator Collins. “I have heard from numerous seniors who were shocked at the transition from employer insurance to Medicare when they learned that the technology they have relied on for years to treat their diabetes is no longer covered. For example, a Mainer sadly had to face the reality that Medicares’ denial of coverage for a specific sensor he needed for his insulin pump meant he would have to pay up to $ 8,000 out of his pocket every year to use his current one Wants to continue treatment. Our bill would help ensure that outdated Medicare coverage criteria do not hinder access to technologies that improve care and lower overall health care costs. “
The Medicare Beneficiaries’ Improvement in Access to Innovative Diabetes Technologies Act would establish a dedicated Task Force to Coverage and Pay for Innovative Diabetes Technologies and Services to investigate and remove barriers that seniors face in accessing the latest in diabetes. Facing management technologies. The task force would report annually and provide specific recommendations to the HHS Secretary and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator on:
- Existing Medicare benefit categories under which innovative diabetes technologies and services should be covered.
- Changes to the Medicare Charter and changes to regulations and sub-policies for existing benefit categories that would be required to enable coverage and payment for innovative diabetes technology and services.
- Eliminate other unnecessary burdens that hinder access to innovative diabetes technologies and services.
- Proposals for a new performance category to cover certain technologies and services that otherwise cannot be covered by changes in regulations and sub-directives for existing performance categories and specifications for the new performance category.
- Proposals to streamline cross-agency administrative processes through greater FDA-CMS collaboration that would facilitate rapid approval or release and coverage of innovative technologies and services for patients with diabetes.
Senators Shaheen and Collins have worked together to raise awareness of the threats posed by diabetes, invest in research, and improve access to treatment options. In response to the Senators’ bipartisan efforts, CMS first approved the use of continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) in January 2017 and allowed Medicare benefit recipients to use smartphone apps in conjunction with continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) in June 2018.
In 2019, the Senators tabled a bill to reverse more than a decade of insulin price hikes, and they consistently urged insulin manufacturers, insurers, and PBMs to be held accountable for the skyrocketing cost of life-saving insulin.
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