Part B Insider (Multispecialty) Coding Alert

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced a draft plan to expand coverage of implantable cardioverter defibrillators. The move should increase the number of eligible beneficiaries by a third, to almost half a million. In the first year, CMS expects to cover 25,000 more beneficiaries.

Physicians implant ICDs into patients' chests to monitor the heart's rhythm and deliver a shock when they detect an arrhythmia. New clinical studies show that patients who have never had a heart attack can benefit from ICDs, so CMS recommended expanding coverage to a broader population, including patients with heart failure and poor function of their left ventricle. Also, patients with a "narrow QRS" finding on electrocardiograms of the heart can benefit from the devices, CMS said.