Wall Street Journal: Biden’s Organ Transplant Rejection
Medicare rations blood tests to save money, but it will hurt patients
By: The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board
Government-run healthcare systems always end up rationing treatment and denying care to manage costs. Without exception. An example is now playing out as Medicare reduces reimbursement for a blood test that has improved the standard of care of organ transplant recipients.
In March, MolDX, a program run by a contractor for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), changed the wording of a billing article, which determines Medicare coverage. The change specified that molecular blood tests, which monitor a patient’s body for early signs of transplant rejection, could only be ordered in lieu of biopsies. MolDX has continued to insist that there was no actual change in coverage, only a “revision for clarity.”