On Wednesday, September
12, 2012, Senator Herb Kohl, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on
Aging, will convene a roundtable discussion entitled “Let the Sunshine In:
Implementing the Physician Payments Sunshine Act.” The “Sunshine Act” provisions of the Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act requires drug, device, biological product,
and medical supply manufacturers to report annually certain information
regarding payments and other transfers of value to physicians and teaching
hospitals. An additional provision requires manufacturers and group purchasing
organizations (GPOs) to report all ownership or investment interests held by
physicians or members of their family. Further, the Secretary of the Department
of Health and Human Services is required to establish procedures for making
reported information publicly available through an Internet website.
According to a press
release issued by the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, the roundtable
discussion will focus on “how these payments will be made available to the
public, the complexities of reporting and collecting payments, and how to
engage stakeholders in implementing the law.” The roundtable will be moderated
by Dr. Mark McClellan, Director of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform
at the Brookings Institution. Senator Charles Grassley, co-author of the
Sunshine Act, is expected to participate in the discussion, as well as the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and a wide range of
stakeholders. The following individuals are also expected to participate
(subject to changes):
- Niall Brennan, Director
in the Policy and Data Analysis Group, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services (CMS), Washington, D.C.
- Dr. Jeremy A. Lazarus, President, American Medical
Association, Chicago, Ill.
- Dr. Douglas Peddicord,
Executive Director, Association of Clinical Research Organizations (ACRO),
Washington, D.C.
- Dr. Daniel Carlat,
Project Director, Pew Charitable Trusts, Washington, D.C.
- Dr. James H. Scully, Jr.,
Medical Director and CEO, American Psychiatric Association, Arlington, Va.
- Dr. Charles Rosen,
Clinical Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, University of California, Irvine
School of Medicine, Orange, Calif.
- Elizabeth O’Farrell,
Senior Vice President of Policy and Finance, Eli Lilly and Co., Indianapolis,
Ind.
- Diane Biagianti, Vice
President, Chief Responsibility Officer, Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine, Calif.
In December 2011, CMS
issued a notice of proposed rulemaking announcing the publication of draft
regulations to implement the Sunshine Act. Although the Sunshine Act requires
manufacturers and GPOs to begin collecting data starting January 1, 2012, CMS
has indicated that it will not require data collection by applicable
manufacturers and applicable GPOs before January 1, 2013. Both Senators Kohl
and Grassley have publicly expressed their disappointment in delaying
implementation of the Sunshine Act. Senator Grassley has noted that “consumers
need to know more about the financial relationships between their doctors and
drug companies sooner rather than later,” and expressed that it is “important
that CMS get this right in every way, including the usefulness and accuracy of
the information.” Senator Kohl also noted his disappointment with the delay,
but looks forward to “working with CMS to finalize the rules so that data
collection can begin in January 2013.”
The roundtable discussion
will take place on Wednesday, September 12th at 2:30 p.m. at the
following location:
Dirksen Senate Office
Building, Room 562
First Street and
Constitution Avenue, NE
Washington, D.C. 20510
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