Foreign adversaries don’t need to hack their way into America’s healthcare system if they can simply sell their way in. As a result of a recent Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) decision, connected medical devices, like Continuous Glucose Monitors and insulin pumps, risk becoming a Trojan horse – a hidden threat to millions of Medicare beneficiaries. Certain foreign manufacturers should be excluded from the list of authorized providers of devices.
Today, national security isn’t just about defending borders – it’s about defending data. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently decided to expand its Competitive Bidding Program to include additional medical devices. This decision allows complex medical device manufacturers to bid for CMS’s business. What is framed as an attempt to reduce patient and taxpayer costs, would actually have sweeping health data and national security complications that should not be overlooked. This decision should not only set off alarms to American medical device manufacturers and patients, but every American concerned for the safety of our nation.
Throughout 28 years in the Army Special Forces, I learned that some of the most dangerous attacks on America happen quietly, behind the scenes, through unexpected avenues. Later, as the Deputy Assistant SecDef for Homeland Defense, I learned that foreign threats infiltrating our healthcare systems were and are growing concerns. Recently, former Secretary of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf, pointed to threats of China accessing American medical technology stating, “When critical medical devices are made by Chinese companies, that puts our safety at risk. Chinese medical devices open the door for the CCP to access sensitive health data.” The NIH found that in 2019, 9.2 percent of imported pharmaceuticals and medical equipment came from China. When patients in the U.S. put their trust in the hands of their doctors, they do not anticipate that their sensitive health data could be accessed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This threat is only going to grow in size and importance.
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Now, with the inclusion of patient monitoring devices, like Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs) and insulin pumps, in CMS’s Competitive Bidding Program, there is grave concern that China has the opportunity to supply America’s largest healthcare program with Chinese-made devices. CMS’s decision means that manufacturers of these specialized products will compete for a CMS contract based on affordability. Chinese manufacturing is well known to be less regulated than American manufacturing, and with subsidized labor costs, allowing them to produce products cheaper with more vulnerabilities.
CGMs and insulin pumps are high-technology devices that transmit live-time data to providers and patients. These are particularly unique medical products; they serve as data pipelines, not just hardware. The threat is clear – if China can get CMS’s business and supply America’s largest healthcare program, patient data will be compromised, and Americans are put at risk.
A sounder solution, and one with stronger security implications, would limit bidding to only American-owned companies. We have strong regulatory and compliance standards, with cybersecurity safeguards. Speaking as a former military officer and Pentagon national security official, it is that the companies supplying CMS with patient devices should only be American-owned enterprises.
CMS should revise the bidding process as part of their expanded Competitive Bidding Program decision and explicitly exclude China from competing. In order to protect American patients, their data, and our nation against security threats, we should not open the door to allow China to bid on patient monitoring devices. The U.S. would never allow China to bid on intelligence technology – we should not treat healthcare technology any different. Excluding China from CMS’s Competitive Bidding Program is a necessary, responsible step.
Steve Bucci served America for three decades as an Army Special Forces officer and top Pentagon official.
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