CONCORD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ: CERS), a biomedical products company focused
in the field of blood transfusion safety, announced today that the
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has granted permanent
Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) Level II codes for
pathogen-reduced platelet and plasma components. The INTERCEPT Blood
System is currently the only FDA-approved system for pathogen reduction
of platelet and plasma components, designed to reduce the risk of
transfusion transmitted infections.
"The proportion of platelets transfused by hospitals on an outpatient
basis is significant today, and continues to grow. These new billing
codes now allow hospitals to bill and secure reimbursement for
INTERCEPT-treated platelet and plasma components in this setting,”
commented William "Obi" Greenman, Cerus’ president and chief executive
officer. “Notably, the rate for a pathogen-reduced platelet unit
represents a premium of $153.56 over the rate of $488.29 for a unit of
conventional apheresis platelets. We were pleased to see strong advocacy
from industry groups such as AABB, and from many other industry and
clinical leaders supporting reimbursement for these innovative products."
The new codes and payment rates, outlined in the table below, were
published by CMS on October 30 in the Hospital Outpatient Prospective
Payment System (HOPPS) Final Rule for CY2016 and will become effective
January 1, 2016. The interim payment rates for CY2016 were based on
payment rates for existing products determined by CMS to be the best
proxy to pathogen-reduced blood components. Hospital claims data will be
used to calculate payment rates for these new products in CY2018, per
usual CMS rate-setting methods.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
New
CY 2016
HCPCS
P-code
|
|
|
|
|
|
New HCPCS P-Code
Long Descriptor
|
|
|
|
|
|
Final
CY 2016 OPPS
Payment Amount
|
|
P9072
|
|
|
|
|
|
Platelets, pheresis,
pathogen reduced, each unit
|
|
|
|
|
|
$641.85
|
|
P9071
|
|
|
|
|
|
Plasma (single donor), pathogen
reduced, frozen, each unit
|
|
|
|
|
|
$72.56
|
|
P9070
|
|
|
|
|
|
Plasma, pooled, multiple donor,
pathogen reduced, frozen,
each unit
|
|
|
|
|
|
$73.08
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For more information regarding the HOPPS final rule, please visit https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2015-27943.pdf
ABOUT CERUS
Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company focused in the field
of blood transfusion safety. The INTERCEPT Blood System is designed to
reduce the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections by inactivating a
broad range of pathogens such as viruses, bacteria and parasites that
may be present in donated blood. The nucleic acid targeting mechanism of
action of the INTERCEPT treatment is designed to inactivate established
transfusion threats, such as Hepatitis B and C, HIV, West Nile Virus and
bacteria, as well as emerging pathogens such as chikungunya, malaria and
dengue. Cerus currently markets and sells the INTERCEPT Blood System for
both platelets and plasma in the United States, Europe, the Commonwealth
of Independent States, the Middle East and selected countries in other
regions around the world. The INTERCEPT red blood cell system is in
clinical development. See http://www.cerus.com
for information about Cerus.
INTERCEPT and the INTERCEPT Blood System are trademarks of Cerus
Corporation.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151102005632/en/
Source: Cerus Corporation