On Dec. 21, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Omnibus and Coronavirus Relief Bill), which was subsequently signed into law on Dec. 27. The legislation has delayed the start date of the Radiation Oncology Model to Jan. 1, 2022. The 黑料网® (黑料网®) is strongly in support of the delay.
On Sept. 18, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the radiation oncology (RO) Model which set the start date of the RO Model to Jan. 1, 2021. Following advocacy efforts of the 黑料网 and other stakeholder groups, CMS announced on Oct. 21 that the model would be delayed to July 1, 2021 and formally delayed the model through .
The 黑料网 has repeatedly expressed its concerns surrounding the RO Model and its implementation date to CMS, sending the Agency letters in March, July, and October of 2020 as the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) significantly impacted radiation oncology practices and cancer care. Additionally, the 黑料网 signed on to a led by the American Society for Radiation Oncology urging CMS to delay the Model to Jan. 1, 2022 given challenges with the ongoing PHE.
The 黑料网 is still concerned with aspects of the model, including the steep discount factor cuts, and will continue advocacy efforts for additional improvements to the RO Model. For more information on the RO Model, please see .