by Robert King | Oct 29, 2019 5:45pm
The
Trump administration has proposed expanding Medicare coverage of
next-generation sequencing as a diagnostic laboratory test for certain types of
ovarian and breast cancer.
The
proposed decision memo released on Tuesday would help identify inherited
mutations in patients that could have hereditary forms of ovarian or breast
cancer.
“Laboratory
diagnostic tests using [next-generation sequencing] can provide a genetic
profile of a patient’s cancer cells and may help clinicians identify the most
effective course of treatment — which is why we’ve been actively monitoring the
rapid innovation of these tests,” tweeted Seema Verma, administrator of the
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
To
obtain coverage for the test, a patient has to have ovarian or breast cancer,
have clinical indications for inherited testing and not been previously tested
using next-generation sequencing.
CMS has
approved next-generation sequencing tests before for other types of cancers.
In
March 2018, the agency finalized coverage for the first time of next-generation
sequencing for patients with advanced cancers. The tests could be used as a
companion diagnostic to identify certain mutations that could benefit from
targeted treatments, CMS said back in March.
CMS
will hold a 30-day public comment period on the proposal to expand next-gen
sequencing tests for ovarian and breast cancer.
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