April 3, 2009
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) early Friday evening released its decision to change its policy so that all Medicare beneficiaries with certain cancers will be able to receive Medicare coverage for at least one PET scan, as prescribed by their physicians.
The CMS ruling also expands the nine currently covered cancers to cover the subsequent treatment strategy, in addition to initial diagnosis. The nine cancers are breast, cervical, colorectal, esophageal, head and neck, lymphoma, melanoma, non-small cell lung, and thyroid. Additionally, Medicare will expand coverage to include ovarian cancer and myeloma, making a total of 11 indications now covered for both the initial diagnosis and subsequent treatment strategy for patients.
+ View entire coverage decision
+ View Appendix A of the CMS coverage decision memo: Effect of Coverage Changes on Oncologic Uses of FDG PET
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