The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that the role of the Medicare Pharmaceutical and Technology Ombudsman will be filled by James Bailey.
Bailey will receive and review questions and concerns from pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, diagnostic product manufacturers and other stakeholders regarding Medicare coverage, coding and payment for those products already covered or for which coverage is being sought. He will not replace current existing processes of appeals and hearings, but will look into how procedures were followed within processes and report back to CMS successes and areas in need of improvement
The role of the Ombudsman was created as part of the 21st Century Cures Act to support customer service and innovation in the Medicare program. Bailey will also collaborate with other Medicare program ombudspersons in the CMS Offices of Hearings and Inquiry.
