Medicare Backs Off Plan To Limit Coverage For Advanced Prosthetics

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MS had issued a draft proposal, known as a Local Coverage Determination for Lower Limb Prostheses, that critics feared would limit access to prosthetics for amputees, including veterans. Following a public comment period that ended in August and a review of those comments, CMS on Monday announced it would not finalize the draft policy.

"Both CMS and its contractors have heard concerns about access to prostheses for Medicare beneficiaries," according to a statement provided by CMS spokeswoman Helen Mulligan.

CMS said it would convene a work group in 2016 to examine the lower limb prostheses issue.

"The purpose of the workgroup is to develop a consensus statement that informs Medicare policy by reviewing the available clinical evidence that defines best practices in the care of beneficiaries who require lower limb prostheses," the statement said.

Critics of the draft policy had included the Amputee Coalition, a Virginia-based advocacy group, as well as U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and leaders of the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees. Blumenthal, himself a veteran, said the plan would have affected tens of thousands of disabled veterans nationwide.