Medicare Limits Spending on Skin Substitute Bandages

Medicare plans to cut payments for costly and unproven skin bandages that have cost the federal government billions of dollars, the Trump administration announced last week. “Spending on skin substitutes has increased fortyfold in the past five years, surpassing $10 billion in 2024,” The New York Times reported on July 15. “That sharp increase is one of the largest examples of Medicare waste in the program’s history, according to data analysts and industry experts,” Sarah Kliff and Katie Thomas wrote.

“Medicare…spent more last year on the bandages than on ambulance rides or anesthesia, despite limited evidence that they work,” Kliff and Thomas noted. “President Trump, who previously defended the payments on social media, received a large campaign donation last year from a leading bandage seller.”

Beth Mole with Ars Technica noted that the Biden administration announced a new policy in April 2024 that would cover bandages for certain types of leg and foot ulcers, provided they had undergone high-quality testing and demonstrated an advantage over standard bandaging. The policy was scheduled to take effect this February. “Some (bandages) are made from medical waste, like dried bits of discarded placentas or infant foreskin, and many have not gone through rigorous testing to prove they offer any advantage over standard bandages.”

“Private insurance companies largely do not cover these bandages,” Mole wrote. “Medicare's current coverage seems to tie back to a rule change in 2020 that opened the door to broader use of them.” 

Dan McCue with The Well News reported that agency officials claimed the runaway increase in prices was due to lax oversight that allowed manufacturers to set their own prices effectively. “Medicare is now proposing setting a flat payment of $806 per square inch.”

“We’re making it easier for seniors to access preventive services, incentivizing healthcare providers to deliver real results and cracking down on abuse that drives up costs,” Dr. Mehmet Oz said in a statement.