In a letter to Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), the CME Coalition applauded the Senator for his recent introduction of legislation which appropriately exempts CME and certain educational materials from the reporting requirements of the Physician Payment Sunshine Act (Sunshine Act). As the Coalition writes to Sen. Barrsso, who is also a practicing physician, "While the Sunshine Act intended to make payments from commercial entities to physicians more transparent, we believe that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) has confused and misread Congressional intent, providing a mix of regulatory interpretations that have called into question whether independent, accredited CME activities could also be subject to the law’s reporting requirements... Your approach, which enjoys significant bipartisan support in the House of Representatives, and was overwhelmingly passed by that body as part of the “21st Century Cures” legislation, will help end much of the confusion among physicians and within the CME stakeholder community. We believe that your bill will reduce physician reluctance to participate in accredited CME by eliminating the “chilling effect” that exists today as a result of Open Payments reporting. We look forward to your bill’s consideration and passage by the full Senate. "
| CME Barrasso Support Letter.pdf |
