Medicare will expand its coverage of MRI scans for patients with implantable cardiac devices, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Previously, the agency allowed such coverage only in clinical trials.
CMS said that it found the evidence sufficient to cover MRI’s for patients with implanted pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators, cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemakers, or cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators. It said that if the devices had not been labeled specifically by FDA for use in the MRI environment, then Medicare would still provide coverage, but under specific circumstances.
