BIO Submits Comments to the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight Regarding the Draft Standard Notices When Discontinuing or Renewing a Product in the Small Group or Individual Market
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July 17, 2014</p>
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<strong><em>BY ELECTRONIC DELIVERY </em></strong></p>
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Mandy Cohen, M.D., MPH</p>
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Acting Director, Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight</p>
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Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services</p>
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Department of Health and Human Services</p>
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200 Independence Avenue SW</p>
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Washington, DC 20201</p>
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<strong>Re: Draft Standard Notices When Discontinuing or Renewing a Product in the Small Group or Individual Market </strong></p>
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Dear Dr. Cohen:</p>
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The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) is pleased to submit the following comments on the notices issued by the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) on June 26, 2014, entitled “Draft Standard Notices When Discontinuing or Renewing a Product in the Small Group or Individual Market (the ‘Draft Standard Notices’).”<a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title="">[1]</a></p>
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BIO represents more than 1,000 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers, and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO's members develop medical products and technologies to treat patients afflicted with serious diseases, to delay the onset of these diseases, or to prevent them in the first place. In that way, our members’ novel therapeutics, vaccines, and diagnostics not only have improved health outcomes, including productivity and quality of life, but also have reduced healthcare expenditures due to fewer physician office visits, hospitalizations, and surgical interventions.<a href="#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title="">[2]</a></p>
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<a href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title="">[1]</a> Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Insurance Standards Bulletin Series: Draft Standard Notices When Discontinuing or Renewing a Product in the Small Group or Individual Market (2014).</p>
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<a href="#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title="">[2]</a> <u>See, e.g.</u>, Congressional Budget Office, Offsetting Effects of Prescription Drug Use on Medicare’s Spending for Medical Services (Nov. 2012).</p>
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July 17, 2014
BY ELECTRONIC DELIVERY
Mandy Cohen, M.D., MPH
Acting Director, Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue SW
Washington, DC 20201
Re: Draft Standard Notices When Discontinuing or Renewing a Product in the Small Group or Individual Market
Dear Dr. Cohen:
The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) is pleased to submit the following comments on the notices issued by the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) on June 26, 2014, entitled “Draft Standard Notices When Discontinuing or Renewing a Product in the Small Group or Individual Market (the ‘Draft Standard Notices’).”[1]
BIO represents more than 1,000 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers, and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO's members develop medical products and technologies to treat patients afflicted with serious diseases, to delay the onset of these diseases, or to prevent them in the first place. In that way, our members’ novel therapeutics, vaccines, and diagnostics not only have improved health outcomes, including productivity and quality of life, but also have reduced healthcare expenditures due to fewer physician office visits, hospitalizations, and surgical interventions.[2]
[1] Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Insurance Standards Bulletin Series: Draft Standard Notices When Discontinuing or Renewing a Product in the Small Group or Individual Market (2014).
[2] See, e.g., Congressional Budget Office, Offsetting Effects of Prescription Drug Use on Medicare’s Spending for Medical Services (Nov. 2012).