One component of the FDA’s drug approval process is a designation of the drug as prescription only or over-the-counter (OTC). If a drug is initially approved as a prescription only medication, this doesn’t mean that the drug cannot later be approved for over-the-counter status. In order to facilitate this change, the drug manufacturer files a […] Continue
On July 1st, CMS issued a Medicare Learning Network (MLN) article regarding the potential dangers associated with the concurrent use of opioids and benzodiazepines. This combination of drugs has always been prescribed cautiously in light of the depressive effect that both drugs can have on a patient’s ability to breathe. When used together, the resulting […] Continue
Starting October 12, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will begin using the CDC’s “Table 1: Life Table for the total population: United States, 2016” for Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set Aside (WCMSA) life expectancy calculations. This means that for any WCMSA proposal received by CMS through the voluntary review program, or where any […] Continue
MEDVAL’s blog, The Official Medicare Set-Aside Blog and Information Resource, has been selected as a best blog in the workers’ compensation industry by workerscompensation.com. We sincerely want to thank all of our loyal readers who took a moment to nominate us, as well as the esteemed panel of judges for this prestigious accolade. It is truly […] Continue
You may recall that in 2018 we reported that a Senate Bill was introduced, “[t]o amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the application of Medicare secondary payer rules to certain workers’ compensation settlement agreements and qualified Medicare set-aside provisions.” As we described it, the Bill was a piece of legislation to […] Continue