Medicare Program; Virtual Meeting of the Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory Committee-September 22, 2021

Issuing agencies

Abstract

This notice announces a virtual public meeting of the Medicare Evidence Development & Coverage Advisory Committee (MEDCAC) (``Committee'') will be held on Wednesday, September 22, 2021. The MEDCAC panel will examine relevant health outcomes in studies for cerebrovascular disease treatment with a particular focus on new technologies of interest to CMS. Given the increased emphasis on new and innovative medical products for treating diseases that have few proven therapies, studies on certain medical technologies have focused on intermediate and surrogate outcomes rather than longer-term data. As a result, there are more frequent evidence gaps with respect to the clinically meaningful health outcomes for CMS beneficiaries, and these gaps impact our assessments of medical technologies. The MEDCAC panel will examine the growing challenges associated with the decreased level of evidence of certain new and innovative technologies. By voting on specific questions, and by their discussions, MEDCAC panel members will advise CMS about the ideal health outcomes in research studies of cerebrovascular disease treatment technologies, appropriate measurement instruments and follow-up durations to help to provide clarity and transparency of National Coverage Analyses (NCAs). This meeting is open to the public in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act.