Oncology & Hematology Coding Alert

Outpatient hospital ambulatory chemotherapy centers will face 30 to 60 percent losses, according to the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC), if HCFAs final rule implements Ambulatory Practice Classification regulations (APCs) in oncology. To prevent these threatened losses, Congressman Gene Green (D-TX) has introduced legislation (HR 1090, the Medicare Full Access to Treatment Act) that would exempt cancer chemotherapy or biologic therapy, supportive care and chemotherapy administration from Medicare APCs. Both ACCC and ASCO support this HR 1090 as do a growing number of Congressional representatives. To express your position on this legislation, write your representative at: U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515.

Proposed reductions in reimbursement for outpatient drugs could mean a loss to oncologists of $1,010 per Medicare patient, according to a report from Health Policy Alternatives, a legislative and regulatory analysis firm in Washington, DC. The reimbursement level would be set at average wholesale price (AWP) minus 17 percent. This proposal is now included in Senate Bill 1451, the Medicare Waste Tax Reduction Act of 1999, introduced by Tom Harkin (D-IA) in the Senate on July 28. The Coalition for Access to Quality Cancer Care, which includes ACCC and the Oncology Nursing Society among others, opposes these reimbursement reductions. Write your senators at: U.S. Senate, Washington, DC 20310.

You can find out who your congressperson or
senators are by calling the Capitol Switchboard at
202-224-3121. The text of the bills is available on the
internet at http://thomas.loc.gov/.