Type of prostate cancer therapy (CK) targeted for Medicare cut

from the IV MB, by yyy60:

>>Type of prostate cancer therapy (CK) targeted for Medicare cut

Decision is pending whether the program will cover CyberKnife

Monday, Jun 22, 2009

Despite passionate support for the device from patients and physicians, that’s a very real possibility. The contractor that decides what Medicare will cover in Florida is considering stopping coverage of prostate cancer therapies that use the CyberKnife and similar devices.

The contractor, Jacksonville-based First Coast Service Options, said in a coverage report that “literature does not support an outcome advantage [with the CyberKnife] over other conventional radiation modalities.” That decision is largely based on a 2008 report by an influential radiation oncology group that reviewed several studies and reached a similar conclusion about the therapy.

“However,” the American Society for Radiation Oncology report added, “the overall potential benefits in terms of clinical outcomes, cost-effectiveness and patient convenience are promising aspects of this paradigm shift that warrant further investment and investigation.”

Pulling Medicare coverage for prostate therapy likely would trigger a domino effect of private insurance carriers also pulling their coverage of the procedure, experts say. Since prostate cancer is so common — afflicting 125 of 100,000 men in Florida, many of them old enough to have Medicare coverage — the determination stands to strike a severe blow to the state’s CyberKnife centers.