UnitedHealthcare Covers Microvolt T-Wave Alternans Testing

Jun 21, 2011 – Insurance provider UnitedHealthcare has made Cambridge Heart’s Microvolt T-Wave Alternans (MTWA) testing a covered benefit for its subscribers. UnitedHealthcare is an operating division of UnitedHealth Group, the largest single health carrier in the United States with more than 32 million medical enrollments.

In addition to UnitedHealthcare, a large number of private insurers cover the MTWA test including Cigna, Aetna, Humana, Harvard Pilgrim and several Blue Cross Blue Shield plans. Medicare also provides reimbursement for Cambridge Heart's MTWA test.

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is the leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for an estimated 300,000 deaths each year - more than lung cancer, breast cancer and HIV/AIDS combined. Out-of-hospital survival is less than 8 percent, making prediction and prevention critically important. Microvolt T-Wave Alternans is a marker of SCA risk that is measured during a non-invasive treadmill test using Cambridge Heart's proprietary technologies.

Cambridge Heart develops and commercializes non-invasive diagnostic tests for cardiac disease, with a focus on identifying those at risk for SCA. Medicare, under its National Coverage Policy reimburses the company’s MTWA test, originally based on research conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

For more information: www.cambridgeheart.com