FACT Submits Comments to CMS Regarding Proposed National Coverage Determination for CAR T-Cell Therapies for Cancer
By: Kara Wacker, MBA, FACT Strategic Planning Administrator
The United States Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a proposed decision memo that outlines coverage for CAR T-cell therapies for cancer using a National Coverage Determination (NCD) with Coverage with Evidence Development (CED). FACT responded to this proposal on March 15, 2019. Comments were a result of input from a variety of stakeholders, including the FACT Board of Directors and Immune Effector Cell Task Force, FACT-accredited programs, FACT inspectors, professional societies, data registries, manufacturers, and payers. We commend the cellular therapy field for its collaborative efforts to provide feedback that would be helpful to CMS as it seeks to provide beneficiaries access to CAR T-cells, and we appreciated this opportunity to provide feedback.
Highlights of FACT’s comments include:
- Suggestion that coverage is provided based on Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved product labels to allow coverage as therapies advance.
- Support for the use of the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) as the data registry, and suggestion to certify the registry prior to finalization of the proposed decision memo.
- Request for clarification on the utility of quality of life data for the stated purposes.
- Clarification regarding the scope of various sets of FACT Standards.
- Agreement that hospitals should meet FACT requirements to promote safety and efficacy of CAR T-cell therapies; increase harmonization across requirements of regulators, payers, and manufacturers; and reduce burden on hospitals.
