AbstractThe National Center for Health Care Technology coordinated the Public Health Service's assessment of therapeutic apheresis for rheumatoid arthritis in response to the Health Care Financing Administration's request for advice regarding Medicare coverage of this rapidly emerging technology. The information considered included reports available in the medical literature (as of early 1981), advice from the National Institutes of Health and Food and Drug Administration, advice from the appropriate medical societies, as well as information submitted by interested parties in response to a notice published in the Federal Register announcing the assessment. Synthesis of this information provided the basis for concluding that therapeutic apheresis for rheumatoid arthritis was considered experimental with the possible exception of treatment for life‐threatening complications such as vasculitis, cryoglobulinemia, or hyperviscosity syndrom