Health-insurance giant UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) has decided
against covering CardioNet Inc.'s (BEAT) outpatient cardiovascular
telemetry, calling it "unproven for managing cardiac
arrythmias."
The company, which makes systems that monitor heart-rhythm
disorders for people on an outpatient basis, said Wednesday it is
currently analyzing the potential impact of the coverage decision
on its operations and will address it later this month when it
discusses second-quarter results.
CardioNet also said it had no updated information on pending
coverage determinations from other national payors. But it plans to
work with UnitedHealth to "demonstrate to them the clinical
efficacy" of its mobile cardiac outpatient telemetry
technology.
Last month, CardioNet found out the federal agency that
administers Medicare and Medicaid decided to keep reimbursement
rates on some of its technology as carrier-priced for next year.
The company had been trying to obtain a national reimbursement rate
for the technology as it has recently seen regional administrators
of Medicare services cut their reimbursements.
CardioNet in April said its first-quarter loss widened
significantly as revenue declined, margins fell and the company
took a hit on one-time charges such as restructuring.
CardioNet shares were off 5.5% to $4.51 in premarket trading.
The stock had fallen 48% in the past year through Tuesday.
-By Nathan Becker, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2855;
nathan.becker@dowjones.com;