Medicare Will Continue to Pay for New Heart Test
Medicare Will Continue to Pay for New Heart Test Friday March 14, 2008 The New York Times reports on changes in a recent Medicare proposal that would have eliminated coverage for a type of test designed to detect heart disease. In December, Medicare announced that it would stop covering the cost of the test – called a 64-slice CT Scan – because there was insufficient evidence demonstrating that it was effective. Now, after reviewing the case, that decision has been reversed, and the test will still be covered. Used as a minimally invasive alternative to traditional diagnostic tests – which involve piercing the skin and threading catheters through the blood stream and into the heart – there is evidence suggesting that CT scan is effective. The problem lies in interpreting whether the test is “more effective enough” to offset its higher cost.
