As ASCO has been reporting, a 3 percent cut the average sales price reimbursement is being considered by the Super Committee to consider as they try t...

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This afternoon, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released its final Physician Fee Schedule and Revisions to Payment Policies for 2012. The rule, which is titled "Medicare Program; Payment Policies under the Physician Fee Schedule, Five-Year Review of Work Relative Value Units, Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule: Signature on Requisition, and Other Revisions to Part B for CY 2012" became available today, November 1, 2011, at 4:15 pm.

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President Obama is directing the Food and Drug Administration to take action to curb drug shortages, an escalating problem that has endangered patients and led to the emergence of what many refer to as “a grey market” for drugs in shortage. Today, Obama issued an executive order instructing the FDA to take certain actions, which are detailed in a report posted today on the FDA website. President Obama also offered support for the bipartisan House and Senate legislation that would require drug manufacturers to give the FDA prior notice of a shortage, an important first step in helping to curtail drug shortages.

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ASCO and two other major cancer organizations together have submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on proposed changes to the system of federal regulations that protect people who take part in medical research, so-called Common Rule.

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The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate are currently working on appropriations bills for fiscal year 2012.  It is unclear what the final appropriations bill will look like, but cuts to the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute are likely to be included.

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To help community oncology practices and large institutions navigate recent healthcare policy changes and leverage health information technology to improve the quality of care, ASCO will hold the 2011 HIT/EHR Symposium in Atlanta on Nov. 4-5.

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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released its much-anticipated final rule for accountable care organizations participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program. The agency expects the MSSP to save Medicare as much as $940 million over four years. ASCO is deeply concerned that the final rule halves the number of quality measures on which ACOs must report and does not implement an oncology-specific measurement system. Cancer quality reporting and measurement is paramount to ensuring new delivery models provide evidence-based, high-value care to patients with cancer.

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ASCO is supporting an amendment to the fiscal year 2012 Senate Agriculture Appropriations bill giving the Food and Drug Administration $10 million to address drug shortages. The amendment, filed by U.S. Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.) gives the Office of the Commissioner of the FDA increased funding to "remedy the current drug shortage crisis and to prevent future shortages."

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