COST-SHARING FOR CLINICAL TRIALS.

SEC. 184. COST-SHARING FOR CLINICAL TRIALS. Section 1833 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395l), as amended by section 151(a), is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:“(w) Methods of Payment.—The Secretary may develop alternative methods of payment for items and services provided under clinical trials and comparative effectiveness studies sponsored or supported by an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, as determined by the Secretary, to those that would otherwise apply under this section, to the extent such alternative methods are necessary to preserve the scientific validity of such trials or studies, such as in the case where masking the identity of interventions from patients and investigators is necessary to comply with the particular trial or study design.”.