Implementing lung cancer screening under medicare: The last chance to get it right?

摘要

Since 1999, CMS has sought advice about insurance coverage from the Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee (MCAC) and its successor, the Medicare Evidence Development & Coverage Advisory Committee (MEDCAC). The MEDCAC hears testimony from invited speakers, engages in dialogue with topic experts, and votes. The MEDCAC met on April 30,2014, to consider lung cancer screening. The average level of confidence in the evidence that the NLST results apply to Medicare-age patients was 2.2 on a scale of l (low) to 5 (high). The vote is advisory, and CMS staff will make the coverage decision. Meanwhile, members of both houses of Congress have urged CMS to cover lung cancer screening.