The American Medical Association’s CPT editorial panel will meet May 1-3 to consider codes for several devices and services, but the most important of these might be the code for cardiac contractility modulation.
The Trump administration sent several signals about the imposition of tariffs on semiconductors – a vital component for many devices. While imaging systems sell infrequently and may not suffer from a short-term crimp in supplies of semiconductors, items such as pacemakers sell by the hundreds of thousands each year in the U.S. a fact that makes semiconductor products a crucial component of the well-being of millions of Americans.
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation was founded with the objective of reducing Medicare spending, but many of the associated programs will be stood down by the end of this year thanks in part to a 2023 report detailing a significant increase, rather than a decrease, in spending associated with CMMI programs.
The U.S. Medicare draft inpatient rule for fiscal 2026 discusses a number of coding proposals, although the agency seems disinclined to go along with a proposal to increase payment rates for TAVR devices by switching the procedures to a different diagnostic-related group.
The new technology add-on payment for the TAG thoracic branch endoprosthesis is likely coming to an end, but the device’s manufacturer, Gore Medical Inc., petitioned CMS to reassign the procedure to a new diagnostic-related group that would more accurately reflect the costs of the related procedure.
The thicket of state-based privacy regulation in the U.S. grows thicker by the day, but Congress seems poised to step in with a bipartisan group that may propose legislation that preempts privacy law.
The Trump administration applied a 90-day hold on nation-specific tariffs, but a group of 26 House Democrats urged the administration to think carefully before acting on a threat to impose tariffs on pharmaceuticals.
Some say it’s not what you say but how you say it, but the U.S. FDA’s Feb. 10, 2025, warning letter to Denver-based Exer Labs Inc., makes clear that a 510(k)-exempt device can’t be altered and promoted for claims that are disallowed under the regulation.
The EU’s Medical Devices Coordination Group (MDCG) issued another revision of its guidance for risk classification for in vitro diagnostics — the fourth such rewrite of a guidance that came out in 2020.
The April 8 Senate hearing on the Trump administration’s tariffs generated some heated debate, although U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer parried some of the criticism by pointing to the yawing trade deficit.
