The national expansion of competitive bidding through Round Two to include mail order diabetic supplies will foster the use of inaccurate blood glucose monitors, which will put diabetes patients at serious risk, according to Dr. Richard Kahn, a professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina.
Writing in a column for Rollcall, Kahn argues that under Round Two, it is very likely be employed by diabetic supply providers looking to make margins after having 72 percent of their funding cut on average.
How did those inaccurate monitors get on the market in the first place? Kahn explains that once the FDA approves a glucose monitor for use, there is no monitoring process to ensure that manufacturers maintain product quality and accuracy. This is a fact the FDA acknowledges, and is trying to correct, he notes.
However, the problem still remains that lower-cost options run a greater risk of being inaccurate, and that’s a problem in CMS’s new competitive bidding landscape.
“With competitive bidding, products are assumed to be of equal quality and accuracy, and bids are based on cost,” he writes. “In efforts to reduce the cost of care, we will likely also be reducing the quality of care by providing our nation’s diabetics with inaccurate technology.
“What does this mean for the health of millions of Americans with diabetes on Medicare, many of whom rely on these glucose monitors to keep their diabetes under control?” he continues. “Many of our most vulnerable citizens will assume the test they use is accurate, adjust their insulin dose accordingly, and could unknowingly be putting themselves at risk of hypoglycemia, hospitalization and even death.”
The risk is immediate, and besides the risk of harm or death, will drive up costs for the Medicare program by creating additional, unnecessary hospital stays, Kahn writes.
“In the decades I have worked in the field of diabetes, there have been few risks as clear and urgent as this one, and action must be taken,” he argues. “First and foremost, Congress and the CMS must rethink the new competitive bidding program.”
Kahn then explains the next, longer-term step is for the FDA to put into place a much stricter post-market surveillance program for ensuring glucose monitor accuracy.
Read the full column at http://www.rollcall.com/news/competitive_bidding_puts_diabetes_patients_at_risk_commentary-226154-1.html.
