According to an article in the Washington Post, the CME Coalition is leading the charge of stakeholders to push back against CMS' proposal to roll back the Sunshine Act exemption for CME. While the article notes that critics of CME will attempt to downplay the impact of the rule, the CME Coalition is cited as a leader in a "health-care fight that isn't quite over." Specifically, the article points out that "a coalition of CME providers, doctors and major drug firms blasted the proposed rule shortly after it was issued, writing that it 'inexplicably' eliminated a 'narrow, but vitally important exemption' that Medicare provided just a year earlier."
"...But even before that happens, Medicare just proposed some tweaks to the program to make it even more transparent... Medicare [s]aid it will eliminate a reporting exclusion for continuing medical education (CME) programs, which was a big carve out in the program's original design. A Journal of the American Medical Association study found that 14 medical device and drug companies in 2010 paid $657 million in grants to CME organizers. And just last week, Modern Healthcare reported that manufacturers had been looking to exploit the CME reporting exclusion.
"Coukell said he sees the Medicare proposal as largely an administrative change that shouldn't affect the CME industry in a substantial way. But a coalition of CME providers, doctors and major drug firms blasted the proposed rule shortly after it was issued, writing that it 'inexplicably' eliminated a 'narrow, but vitally important exemption' that Medicare provided just a year earlier.
"So chalk this up as another health-care fight that isn't quite over."
