Healthcare Industry News: Microvolt T-Wave Alternans
News Release - February 4, 2008
Premera Blue Cross Covers Microvolt T-Wave Alternans Testing
BEDFORD, Mass.--(HSMN NewsFeed)--Cambridge Heart, Inc. (OTCBB: CAMH ), announced today that Premera Blue Cross has revised its Corporate Medical Policy to make Microvolt T-Wave Alternans Testing a covered benefit. Premera Blue Cross provides healthcare benefits to more than 1.5 million members in Washington and Alaska. The revised policy now states:“T-Wave Alternans testing may be considered medically necessary as a technique of risk stratification for the evaluation of persons at risk of sudden cardiac death who meet criteria for implantable cardioverter defibrillator placement.”
In its 2008 review of Microvolt T-Wave Alternans (MTWA) testing Premera Blue Cross notes:
“Both CMS and the American College of Cardiology consider MTWA to be a medically useful diagnostic test for the evaluation of patients with LV dysfunction at high risk of sudden cardiac death and also a useful risk stratification tool to identify which patients are at negligible risk of sudden cardiac death.”
“We are very pleased with the decision by Premera Blue Cross to expand its coverage policy to include MTWA testing,” stated Ali Haghighi-Mood, Chief Executive Officer of Cambridge Heart, Inc. “By offering this benefit to its members, Premera joins a host of providers who have recognized the prognostic value of MTWA for those at risk of Sudden Cardiac Death.” MTWA testing is currently covered by Medicare, Medicaid and many private insurers including Wellpoint/Anthem BCBS, HCSC BCBS, Aetna, Cigna and Humana.
About Cambridge Heart, Inc.
Cambridge Heart (www.cambridgeheart.com) is engaged in the development and commercialization of products for the non-invasive diagnosis of cardiac disease, particularly the identification of those at risk of sudden cardiac arrest. The Company's products incorporate its proprietary Microvolt T-Wave Alternans measurement technologies, coupled with its patented Spectral Analytic Method and ultra-sensitive disposable electrode sensors. Only Spectral Analytic Method MTWA tests are reimbursed by Medicare under its National Coverage Policy that covers patients with a wide variety of cardiac symptoms. Other major insurers in the U.S. also have coverage policies for the test. The T-Wave Alternans test is included in the Guideline for Management of Patients with Ventricular Arrhythmias and the Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death jointly developed by the American College of Cardiology (ACC), the American Heart Association (AHA), and the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). The Company, founded in 1990, is based in Bedford, Massachusetts, and is traded on the OTCBB under the symbol CAMH.
Statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, we use words such as "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "plans", "estimates", "could", and similar expressions that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes to identify these forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause or contribute to such differences include failure to achieve broad market acceptance of our MTWA technology, failure of our sales and marketing partner to market our products effectively, inability to hire and retain qualified clinical applications specialists in our target markets, failure to obtain or maintain adequate levels of third-party reimbursement for use of our MTWA test, customer delays in making final buying decisions, decreased demand for our products, failure to obtain funding necessary to develop or enhance our technology, adverse results in future clinical studies of our technology, failure to obtain or maintain patent protection for our technology and other factors identified in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K under "Risk Factors", which is on file with the SEC and available at www.EDGAR.com. In addition, any forward-looking statements represent our estimates only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing our estimates as of any subsequent date. While we may elect to update forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we specifically disclaim any obligation to do so except as may be legally necessary, even if our estimates should change.
Source: Cambridge Heart
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