Reps. introduce bill to change reimbursement for antimicrobials

Reps. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) and Danny Davis (D-Ill.) introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would change the way Medicare reimburses hospitals that use new antimicrobials in an in-patient setting in an effort to encourage companies to develop new antibiotics.

Drugs used in hospitals are covered under Medicare Part A, through which CMS provides hospitals a fixed payment for in-patient care based on a patient's diagnosis-related group. CMS also can provide a new technology add on payment (NTAP) of up to 50% of the cost of a new drug to encourage adoption by hospitals. The bill, H.R. 4187, would replace NTAP with a supplemental payment of the drug's average sales price (ASP) plus a percentage determined by CMS. The move would bring reimbursement of inpatient antimicrobials in line with payments for out-patient drugs under Part B. ...