HeartWare International, Inc. (HTWR)

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8-2-13/MassDev: New Medicare Rules For Heart Pump Implants

“The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issues new proposed rules for implantable heart pumps, sending Thoratec shares up slightly by prompting investors to rival HeartWare's shares down”
by Brad Perriello, MassDev
http://www.massdevice.com/news/thoratec-ticks-heartware-slides-new-medicare-rules-heart-pump-implants

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued new proposed rules for left ventricular assist devices, the heart pump implants designed to help patients with end-stage heart disease either make the bridge to transplant or to assist their hearts until the end of life – so-called "destination therapy."

The new Medicare rules change how potential LVAD patients must be registered, requiring bridge-to-transplant patients to be registered as potential heart transplant recipients with their own hospitals, as before, but also requires them to be placed on the national organ transplant list.

The new proposed rules would also tighten the restrictions on so-called "bridge-to-decision" patients who use the pumps until a decision is made regarding a heart transplant. They also eliminate restrictions on the amount of time BTT patients can spend on the devices while they await a heart transplant.