2006 proposed fee schedule - American Society of Clinical Oncology

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basic pharmacy services such as delivery of drugs, as well
as other services such as in-home visits. We are soliciting
comments on what services appropriately fall within the
scope of a dispensing fee, the cost of providing those
services, and whether any of the services being provided by
inhalation drug suppliers may be covered through another
part of the Medicare program, such as the physician fee
schedule or the DME benefit. We intend to establish a
dispensing fee amount for 2006 that is adequate to cover the
costs of those services that appropriately fall within the
scope of a dispensing fee, and we think that it is likely
that this fee amount will be lower than the 2005 level. As
discussed previously, we believe that 2005 was a transition
year. Payment for inhalation drugs in 2005 was reduced from
a percentage of AWP to 106 percent of ASP and the 2005
dispensing fee was set at a much higher level than
previously paid based on the limited information available
and taking into account the transition. Additional changes
will occur in 2006 because the implementation of the
Medicare prescription drug benefit will expand coverage
options for inhalation drugs to include metered dose
inhalers under Medicare Part D. As noted above, we expect
that physicians will choose the treatment option that best
suits a particular beneficiary’s needs and that both
nebulizers and metered-dose inhalers will play an important