Just as the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) prepare to make a decision concerning whether or not to approve unattended home testing for obstructive sleep apnea, Reuters is reporting that the agency has often used irrelevant data in prior decisions.

As reported in Sleep Review, an article published in the Jan. 28 edition of The Archives of Internal Medicine, states “CMS often make national coverage determinations based on clinical trials among subjects whose demographics differ substantially from those of Medicare beneficiaries, according to researchers at the University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine.”

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The research makes me wonder if we can count on CMS to utilize data that accurately reflect the population this proposal is intended to serve. It further strengthens the argument that the proposal is flawed and might only confuse Medicare beneficiaries and provide them with less than adequate care.

Again, we ask “Who Should Care for our Greatest Generation’s Sleep Disorders?”

Mark Stoiber, President