Government

Medicare expands ICD coverage

NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Feb. 7, 2005

Print  |   Email  |   Respond  |   Reprints  |   Like Facebook  |   Share Twitter  |   Tweet Linkedin

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced plans to lift the delay in its expansion of Medicare coverage for implantable cardioverter defibrillators.

The move will increase the total number of beneficiaries eligible for ICD coverage by about a third, to 500,000. Of the newly eligible seniors, Medicare officials expect at least 25,000 to take advantage of the benefit in the first year. The projected federal cost of outfitting all seniors who are expected to get ICDs is about $3 billion.

Physicians who prescribe the devices for the new class of Medicare patients must enter outcomes data on the recipients in a national registry aimed at determining how well the treatments work.

CMS delayed its decision last December, citing the fact that a National Institutes of Health study on ICDs and sudden cardiac death had not yet been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal. The results of the investigation appeared in the Jan. 20 New England Journal of Medicine.

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/02/07/gvbf0207.htm.

Back to top


ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISE HERE


Featured
Read story

Confronting bias against obese patients

Medical educators are starting to raise awareness about how weight-related stigma can impair patient-physician communication and the treatment of obesity. Read story


Read story

Goodbye

American Medical News is ceasing publication after 55 years of serving physicians by keeping them informed of their rapidly changing profession. Read story


Read story

Policing medical practice employees after work

Doctors can try to regulate staff actions outside the office, but they must watch what they try to stamp out and how they do it. Read story


Read story

Diabetes prevention: Set on a course for lifestyle change

The YMCA's evidence-based program is helping prediabetic patients eat right, get active and lose weight. Read story


Read story

Medicaid's muddled preventive care picture

The health system reform law promises no-cost coverage of a lengthy list of screenings and other prevention services, but some beneficiaries still might miss out. Read story


Read story

How to get tax breaks for your medical practice

Federal, state and local governments offer doctors incentives because practices are recognized as economic engines. But physicians must know how and where to find them. Read story


Read story

Advance pay ACOs: A down payment on Medicare's future

Accountable care organizations that pay doctors up-front bring practice improvements, but it's unclear yet if program actuaries will see a return on investment. Read story


Read story

Physician liability: Your team, your legal risk

When health care team members drop the ball, it's often doctors who end up in court. How can physicians improve such care and avoid risks? Read story

  • Stay informed
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • LinkedIn