Vizient urges delay of ‘Most Favored Nation’ model for physician-administered drugs
Vizient, Inc. called for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to delay the start of the recently finalized Most Favored Nation (MFN) Model for certain physician-administered drugs.
Under the MFN Model, hospitals and certain other healthcare providers will have their Medicare reimbursement for 50 selected prescription drugs reduced to a rate derived from the lowest amount paid by a comparable foreign nation beginning January 1.
The MFN Model Interim Final Rule was finalized using an abbreviated regulatory process that, among other concerns, neglected the essential preparation time needed to adopt the new practices required by the rule.
While Vizient continues to analyze the rule, their letter to CMS urges the agency to delay the start of its implementation and notes that the rule will ultimately cut reimbursements to providers instead of impacting the true cost of prescription drugs. This is particularly important as hospitals and healthcare providers continue to be stretched thin by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vizient intends to submit more detailed comments on the broader implications of the policy but urges CMS to, at the very least, delay the January 1 start date of the MFN model.
Read the Vizient letter at: https://www.vizientinc.com/-/media/documents/sitecorepublishingdocuments/public/aboutus/20201210_vizient_cms_letter_delay_mfn_model.pdf.
