Medicare Quality Cancer Care Demonstration Act

The United States Medicare Quality Cancer Care Demonstration Act of 2009 () is a landmark, national initiative intended to enhance the quality of cancer care, focused on seniors covered by Medicare (approximately 45% of cancer patients are Medicare beneficiaries), while also controlling costs. House bill H.R. 2872 was introduced by Congressman Artur Davis (D-AL) and cosponsored by Representatives Steve Israel (D-NY) and Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OH).
The Quality Cancer Care Demonstration (QCCD) project was developed by community oncologists, with input from policy experts, to be a national Medicare demonstration project focused on two key aspects of cancer care: treatment planning and end-of-life care. Treatment planning involves all of the essential components of establishing the cancer care plan and monitoring its effectiveness. End-of-life care involves all of the essential components of patient-centric cancer care relating to individuals facing end-of-life planning and decisions.
H.R. 2872 calls for national reporting, via the Medicare payment system, of key metrics of evidence based care, refinement of those metrics, and development of a new Medicare performance-based reimbursement system that is patient-centric and quality driven, while aligning better with parameters of cost control.
The bill includes the following elements: