Immuno Drugs Remain Protected
Monday, March 10, 2014
Earlier today, the Obama Administration informed top congressional leaders that it will not finalize any of the changes it had proposed to the Six Protected Classes Policy in the Jan. 10 regulation... including the proposed removal of transplant immuno drugs from the protected class category. They note the considerable pushback received on this and some other aspects of the rule during the comment period. It was also pointed out, that the issues may be revisited in future years.
As you know, AST submitted official comments opposing the rule to CMS. The AST was mentioned by name at the recent Congressional hearing examining the proposed rule, worked closely with members of the Senate and the House to ask specific questions of CMS officials during Capitol Hill hearing, and helped organize broader comments and direct lobbying with transplant stakeholder groups and other impacted parties, including the mental health community.