Many people who are on chemotherapy suffer from anemia, and counteract this with drugs that increase the production of oxygen-carrying red blood cells. Popular brands include Aransep and Procrit.
There have been some safety concerns about these drugs. In particular, they are approved only for the anemia resulting from chemotherapy, but have also been used by cancer patients who are not getting chemotherapy.
Back in May, Medicare proposed that use of these types of drugs be limited, but a public outcry from doctors and patients caused them to modify the rules under which they would be covered.
However, the revised rule still retains some significant restrictions. For example, the program will not cover the use of these drugs to treat the anemia caused by cancer itself, but just the anemia caused by chemotherapy. Thus patients not getting chemotherapy will not have these drugs covered by Medicare.
For more information, go to the CMS website by clicking here.
Questions about Medicare? Email to info@medicarebenefits.com
Source:
http://www.medicarebenefits.com/what_s_new_in_medicare_anemia.html
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