Rev. Al Sharpton and musician Al B. Sure! are welcoming support from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich as they call on the Biden administration to reverse a decision made this year to eliminate Medicare coverage for blood tests that have the potential to detect early signs of organ rejection in organ transplant recipients.
Sharpton and Al B! launched the Health Equity in Transplantation Coalition (HETC) last week in an effort to reverse a March 2, 2023, decision made on behalf of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Coverage by a private Medicare administrative contractor to rescind Medicare coverage of the blood tests that had been in place since at least 2017.
Known as a billing article, the decision restricts access to non-invasive post-transplant testing for patients with a heart, lung or kidney transplant. The contractor’s decision reportedly came after it was made aware of improper billing and overuse of the tests.