This is a paraphrased statement made by then FDA Commissioner Donald Kennedy in the early 70’s.. As I remember it.. This is when Congress was discussing implementing MAC (Max allowable cost) for Medicaid.. Kennedy testified before Congress that the MAC program would never compromise quality of medication over price… After Congress passed the program.. The above statement was reportedly made by him…
Maybe it is just me… but.. sounds similar to the statement made during Obamacare hearing “…you will have to let us pass it …so that you can find out what is in it..”
The horror stories of the things “crawling” out of Obamacare.. has left a lot of people astounded about what was really was in the bill…
It would now seem that CMS is implementing competitive bidding on Diabetic Testing Strip.
This came from a NCPA email that I received this week:
Now that the prices have been released, reimbursements will be cut 14.5% on April 1 (based on current reimbursement rates of $38/box of 50) and on or about July 1, the competitive bid price of $10.41 will take effect. Additionally, a ban on home delivery of DTS will take effect on July 1.
The only strips that could feasibly meet this price are manufactured overseas, mostly in China
Maybe I am wrong, but as diabetics take on more and more of managing their disease… and doing blood glucose testing is the corner stone of them doing this. What assurance do we have that these “foreign test strips” are ‘UP TO PAR”? and potentially even worse.. they are consistently UP TO PAR?
What are going to be the unintended consequences or collateral damage to/ by diabetic pts… while the system is saving money?
Filed under: General Problems
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