According to a new article from Bloomberg BNA, "It's official. The vast bulk of health-care industry stakeholders want CMS to keep the continuing medical education (CME) reporting exemption under the Open Payments program." Citing analysis from the CME Coalition, the article notes that 820 comments (and over 900 now, according to our latest count) were submitted to CMS encouraging them to expand the CME exemption. Just 20 comments were submitted by those opposing the Open Payments reporting exemption for CME. The article goes on to note that "other organizations including the American Medical Association, the Medical Group Management Association and other industry groups said CMS shouldn't go through with a proposal to remove section 403.904(g) of the final rule implementing the Open Payments program."
Bloomberg BNA: Industry to CMS: Keep the CME Sunshine Reporting Exemption
It's official. The vast bulk of health-care industry stakeholders want CMS to keep the continuing medical education (CME) reporting exemption under the Open Payments program. According to the CME Coalition, 820 comments supported maintaining or expanding the exemption, while only 20 comments were in favor of eliminating the exemption.
In recent comments on the proposed Medicare fee schedule, the American Medical Association, the Medical Group Management Association and other industry groups said CMS shouldn't go through with a proposal to remove section 403.904(g) of the final rule implementing the Open Payments program, which covers conditions under which CME funding doesn't have to be reported to the government.
For example, the AMA said the proposal would likely result in fewer physicians taking part in CME events, while the MGMA said the reporting exemptions should apply when a drug or device manufacturer provides CME payments but doesn't know the identity of the event's speaker and doesn't provide the event with a list of acceptable speakers.
In addition to commenting on the CME reporting exemption proposal, the AMA said CMS should provide context for the upcoming Sept. 30 public release of the Open Payments data, noting that it can help consumers "make educated judgments on the benefits of various transfers of value, such as medical journal reprints and industry-funded clinical research, in the practice of medicine."
