HHS: adjusted ERSD bundling could have saved $529M in 2011

HHS's Office of Inspector General (OIG) said Medicare would have saved $510 million in 2011 on erythropoietin stimulating agents (ESAs) Aranesp darbepoetin alfa and Epogen epoetin alfa if the bundled payment rate for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients had been adjusted to reflect the use of the anemia drugs. CMS expanded the bundled payment for dialysis care to include injectable ESRD drugs and their oral equivalents in 2011, but the agency used claims data from 2007 to develop the 2011 base payment rate. In a (see BioCentury Extra, Dec. 11, 2012). ...