The Trump administration announced Friday it would delay the implementation of a Biden-era rule meant to restrict coverage of unproven and costly bandages known as skin substitutes.
The policy will be delayed until 2026, allowing companies to continue setting high prices for new products, taking advantage of a loophole in Medicare rules. The companies sell those bandages at a discount to doctors, who then charge Medicare the full sticker price and pocket the difference, The New York Times reported on Thursday.
Medicare spending on the coverings soared to over $10 billion in 2024, up from $1.6 billion in 2022, according to an analysis done by Early Read, an actuarial firm that evaluates costs for large health companies. Some experts said the bandage spending was one of the largest examples of waste in the history of Medicare, the insurance program for seniors.
A super PAC for President Trump’s election campaign had received a $2 million donation from Extremity Care, a leading seller of skin substitutes. Mr. Trump has twice criticized the policy on social media, saying it would hurt patients who use the products on diabetic sores.
“‘Crooked Joe’ rammed through a policy that would create more suffering and death for diabetic patients on Medicare,” Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social in March.
Extremity Care had also criticized the plan, arguing that it would disrupt supply chains, eliminate innovation and increase costs for both doctors and patients. The company, which has said that it adheres to high ethical standards, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the policy’s new delay.
More than 120 skin substitutes are on the market. They cost $5,089 per square inch on average, The Times found, with the most expensive exceeding $23,000.
The Biden-era rule would have restricted Medicare coverage to a small subset of products that have been shown to be effective in randomized clinical trials. The new policy applies to patients using the bandages on foot and leg sores, known as ulcers, which can be caused by diabetes or poor circulation.
Medicare said in a statement Friday that as part of the transition to a new administration, it would be reviewing the policy. During that time, it said it “believes it is important to maintain patient access to skin substitute products with high quality evidence of effectiveness.”
The MASS Coalition, a group that supports the skin substitute industry, said it was “pleased” with the delay, which it said would give the Trump administration time to evaluate the policy change. A spokeswoman, Preeya Noronha Pinto, said the group is looking forward to working with Medicare “on a coverage policy and payment reform that ensures access to skin substitutes.”
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