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Alliance for Aging Research’s Comments to CMS Regarding Coverage of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement

Published April 26, 2019

April 26, 2019 – On June 27th, 2018, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that they are reconsidering the National Coverage Determination (NCD) for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). A NCD is a nationwide policy on whether Medicare will pay for a particular item or service, and under what circumstances. The current NCD lays out requirements for TAVR procedures used for the treatment of severe symptomatic aortic stenosis according to an FDA-approved indication. Reopening the NCD means that CMS is reexamining how TAVR will be covered and reimbursed moving forward. The new determination could impact access to TAVR—potentially widening or limiting the ability of patients to get TAVR.

On March 26th, 2019, CMS released its proposed updates to its TAVR coverage and requested feedback from the public, including the patient community, by Thursday, April 25th.  The Alliance for Aging Research submitted comments to CMS Administrator Seema Verma and the CMS Coverage Analysis Group which were co-signed by a dozen other patient advocacy organizations, including:

  • Alliance for Aging Research
  • Alliance for Patient Access
  • Association of Black Cardiologists
  • Caregiver Action Network
  • HealthyWomen
  • Heart Valve Voice US
  • Mended Hearts
  • Men’s Health Network
  • National Black Nurses Association
  • National Hispanic Medical Association
  • National Medical Association
  • National Minority Quality Forum
  • Partnership to Advance Cardiovascular Health
  • RetireSafe

You can read the comments here.

Additional information:

About the Alliance for Aging Research
The Alliance for Aging Research is the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the pace of scientific discoveries and their application to vastly improve the universal human experience of aging and health. The Alliance believes advances in research help people live longer, happier, more productive lives and reduce healthcare costs over the long term. For more than 30 years, the Alliance has guided efforts to substantially increase funding and focus for aging at the National Institutes of Health and Food and Drug Administration; built influential coalitions to guide groundbreaking regulatory improvements for age-related diseases; and created award-winning, high-impact educational materials to improve the health and well-being of older adults and their family caregivers. For more information, visit www.agingresearch.org

Media Contact:
Janelle Germanos
Communications Manager
[email protected]
(202) 688-1209

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