2006 proposed fee schedule - American Society of Clinical Oncology

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additional 0.7 percent addition to the CY 2005 add-on of 8.1
percent.
(3) Proposed Drug Add-On Adjustment for CY 2006
With the recalculated CY 2005 add-on to the per
treatment composite rate being 8.1 percent and with the
additional increment for expenditures in CY 2006 being 0.7
percent, we combine them to produce one drug add-on
adjustment for CY 2006 that would be 8.9 percent.
(4) Add-On for Spread for Drugs Furnished in Hospital-Based
Facilities
In its June 2005 Report to Congress, MedPAC recommended
that payment differences be eliminated for separately billed
drugs furnished in independent and hospital-based facilities
and that all these drugs be paid under the ASP +6 percent
system. While we agree with MedPAC that paying the same
rates in both settings would be the preferable policy, we
have not proposed this policy because data on dosing units
for drugs furnished by hospital-based facilities are not
available. This data is needed to estimate the drug
payments using ASP +6 percent pricing. That is a key
component of the calculation of the drug add-on adjustment.
In their report, MedPAC acknowledges these data issues and
recommends that CMS take steps to collect data on
acquisition costs and payment per unit for drugs provided in
hospital-based ESRD facilities. We are currently examining