Medicare Monitor
The Palm Beach Post's veteran Washington correspondent, Larry Lipman, tracks policy makers and interest groups who are shaping the future of the federal health insurance program for the elderly.Medicare Web Resources
Government
•Medicare
•Medicare Frequently Asked Questions
•Medicare Booklet
•Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
•Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
Organizations
•AARP
•America's Health Insurance Plans
•Brookings Institution
•Center for Medicare Advocacy
•Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
•Century Foundation
•Commonwealth Fund
•Families USA
•Florida 50+
•Heritage Foundation
•Kaiser Family Foundation
•Medicare Rights Center
•National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
•National Academy of Social Insurance
•National Center for Policy Analysis
Blogs
•AARP Issues Blog: Medicare
•Cato Institute Health Care Blog
•Entitled to Know National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
•The Health Care Blog
Medicare at a glance
Medicare is the federal health care system that covers about 36 million people age 65 and older, plus 7 million disabled. It has four parts:
Financed by a 2.9 percent payroll tax divided equally between employees and employers.
Financed by beneficiary premiums and federal general revenue. Current monthly premiums are $93.50. Starting this year, individuals whose taxable income is more than $80,000 will pay a higher premium.
Financed by Medicare and beneficiary premiums, which vary among plans.
The plans are private and financed by Medicare and beneficiary premiums, which vary among plans.
-- Larry Lipman
RSS feed
What's on this page →
The entry titled "Medicare to cover artificial heart tests," and any of the comments about it.
Categories
Commenting is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. M-F
Recent entries
Home > Medicare Monitor > Archives > 2008 > May > 01 > Entry
Medicare to cover artificial heart tests
“Our decision revises a long-standing non-coverage policy and allows beneficiary access to this advanced technology,” said Kerry Weems, Medicare’s acting administrator. “Our decision also encourages the completion of FDA post-approval studies.”
Coverage of artificial hearts has been blocked by a policy in place since 1986. According to a Centers for Medciare and Medicaid Services news release, the agency now “believes there is now sufficient scientific evidence on the use of artificial hearts to allow coverage of these devices for beneficiaries in the carefully controlled clinical environment of an FDA-approved study.”
Weems said: “Our policy will allow beneficiaries to access artificial heart technology while also stimulating the research community to develop further evidence about the impact of this technology on improving patient outcomes.”
Comments