Medicare: Coverage of Pumps Used to Administer Intravenous Drugs

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the advantages and disadvantages of providing Medicare coverage for disposable infusion pumps, focusing on: (1) the clinical benefits and limitations of disposable infusion pumps; (2) the factors that affect whether a durable or disposable infusion pump is less expensive to use for home infusion; (3) some Medicaid and private insurance plans' home infusion therapy coverage policies; and (4) issues raised by Medicare's policy that links coverage of intravenous (IV) drugs to the use of durable infusion pumps.