2009 was a defining year for the CyberKnife Coalition (CKC) and, more importantly, patients and their families. Thank you for your support: please continue it, as 2010 will be just as intense. Here are some highlights from 2009, and a look forward to 2010:
- For prostate cancer patients, the situation looked bleak as three separate Medicare regions issued proposals to withdraw coverage of SBRT for prostate cancer. But, thanks to the coordinated efforts of CKC members, everyone one of these proposals was defeated. Space does not allow me to list all the many CKC members who were involved, but I would like to pay tribute to the leadership of Don Fuller (Palmetto – CA, HI, NV), Mark Perman (First Coast - FL, Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands) and Dave Spearman (Highmark – mid-Atlantic states).
- The diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer has become a controversial topic for the Federal Government. In 2010 the CKC has two aims: to establish prostate coverage in the two remaining Medicare regions that have yet to cover it – Noridian and Trailblazer in the north and southwest; and to ensure that SRS is maintained as a treatment option after the Medicare Evidence Development & Coverage Advisory Committee (MEDCAC) meeting on April 21.
- The other major Medicare problem that deprives patients of access to CyberKnife is the fact that some Medicare regions pay below cost in the freestanding setting. This is an unintended anomaly produced by Medicare’s rigid methodologies, and it needs to be put right. Currently Medicare pays more for IMRT in the freestanding setting than in the hospital setting, but the reverse is true for SRS! This obviously does not make sense, and we shall seek a solution in 2010.
- While 2009 kept us exclusively focused on Medicare, in 2010 we plan to start carrying the message to major commercial payers. We expect to use economic evidence as well as data on efficacy, side effects and patient satisfaction.
- With health care reform dominating the political scene in Washington, many CKC members flew to DC in March to educated Congress on the life-saving, life-enhancing and cost saving potential of CyberKnife. We’ll do the same this year, in April. CyberKnife is precisely the kind of medical innovation that will help solve the problem of increasing coverage without ruining the economy.
Just as 2009 showed what we can do when we work together, it also illustrated what would happen if we do not. Patients rely on us to explain this remarkable but disruptive technology to policymakers. Please be ready to play your part in 2010, and we will continue to establish CyberKnife as a standard of care. Thank you.
Linda Winger
President
CyberKnife Coalition