The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) is meeting with Congress today to make recommendations for more transparent and expedited reimbursement policies for new medical technologies.
The association will be talking with Congress’ House Medical Technology Caucus, about how inefficient reimbursement processes plagued by administrative barriers create an environment in which investors tend to back products with minimal risk and more predictable regulatory pathways — and not necessarily the innovative technologies coming out of emerging companies.
NVCA’s presentation is focused mainly on new technologies that have no precedent for reimbursement. In the interest of streamlining the reimbursement process for the small companies developing these products, the association is calling for an expanded, ombudsman role for the Council on Technology and Innovation, better process descriptions, and more explicit time frames for decisions. NVCA is also recommending that devices cleared for expedited FDA review be granted simultaneous review by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.
The meeting coincides with NVCA’s second publishing of Patient Capital: How Venture Capital Investment Drives Revolutionary Medical Innovation, a report that highlights the role venture funding has played in bringing new medical technologies to market.
“The revolutionary medical breakthroughs produced by venture capital-backed companies amount to highly tangible and valuable improvements to people’s lives,” said Mark Heesen, NVCA’s president, in a press release. “Today, small venture-backed companies often serve as the research and development pipeline for the larger life sciences corporations [that] seek to acquire the most promising innovations. It is critical that Congress support public policies that foster this investment to ensure a stable pipeline of innovation.”