AdvaMed

Rule Changes

Supporting pathway, lobbying for broader coverage

For nearly a decade, medical device makers have faced the same bottleneck: the FDA clears a breakthrough device, and then Medicare spends another year or more deciding whether to pay for it. On April 23, 2026, the two agencies jointly announced the Regulatory Alignment for Predictable and Immediate Device (RAPID) pathway — it cuts that timeline to as little as two months. They simultaneously paused the existing Transitional Coverage for Emerging Technologies (TCET) program for new applicants, consolidating all breakthrough-device coverage work under RAPID.

Updated May 31