CMS MEDCAC Meeting Will Review Evidence for Coverage of Lower Extremity PAD

April 30, 2015—The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that the Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory Committee (MEDCAC) will conduct a meeting to review coverage issues related to treatments for lower extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD). The MEDCAC meeting will be held from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm on Wednesday, July 22, 2015, in the main auditorium of CMS building at 7500 Security Boulevard in Baltimore, Maryland.

The MEDCAC panel will examine the scientific evidence of existing interventions that aim to improve health outcomes in the Medicare population and address areas where evidence gaps exist related to lower extremity PAD, with a focus on three categories along the disease progression continuum: asymptomatic, intermittent claudication, and critical limb ischemia.

Clinical outcomes of interest to the Medicare program include reduction in pain; avoidance of amputation; improvement in quality of life and/or functional capacity, including walking distance; wound healing; avoidance of cardiovascular events, including myocardial infarction, stroke, cardiovascular death, and all-cause mortality; and avoidance of harms from the interventions.

The official notice of the meeting was published in the April 24, 2015 issue of the Federal Register (2015;80:23007–23009). Background information and panel materials are available online.

According to CMS, MEDCAC generally provides advice and recommendations concerning the adequacy of scientific evidence needed to determine whether certain medical items and services can be covered under the Medicare statute.

By voting on specific questions, and by their discussions, MEDCAC panel members will advise CMS about the extent to which it may wish to use existing evidence as the basis for any future determinations about Medicare coverage for interventions related to lower extremity PAD. Although MEDCAC panels do not make coverage determinations, CMS often benefits from their advice. 

The meeting will be broadcast live at http://www.cms.gov/live/. To attend the meeting, the deadline for online registration is 5 pm, Eastern time, Wednesday, July 15, 2015.

The deadline to submit written comments and to register to be a speaker and tsubmit PowerPoint presentation materials and writings that will be used in support of an oral presentation is 5:00 pm, Eastern time, on Monday, June 15, 2015.

Presentation materials and written comments that will be presented at the meeting must be submitted via e-mail to MedCACpresentations@cms.hhs.gov, or by regular mail to Maria Ellis, Executive Secretary for MEDCAC, Coverage and Analysis Group of the CMS Center for Clinical Standards and Quality. The address is S3–02–01, 7500 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland, 21244. Ms. Ellis can also be contacted by phone at (410) 786–0309 or email at Maria.Ellis@cms.hhs.gov for any further information.