Med tech industry blasts Obama's proposed FY 14 budget

President Barack Obama's proposed fiscal 2014 budget is already drawing strong opposition from the med tech industry. Among the points of conflict: proposed payment reductions for clinical lab services and durable medical equipment in Medicaid, and a possible prior authorization requirement for advanced imaging of Medicare patients. AdvaMed president and CEO Stephen Ubl said in a statement that the measures, if adopted, "will chill continued medical innovation affecting current and future Medicare beneficiaries," and also harm patients by toughening access to "life-saving, life-enhancing medical technology." The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance, or MITA, took issue with the imaging authorization proposal, which it said has previously been acknowledged by the Office of Management of Budget as a measure that "will yield no savings." AdvaMed release | MITA statement