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Article: 4 Minnesotans in Congress go to bat for Bio-Vascular product; Medicare will not reimburse cost of new surgery that uses Peri-Strip.(BUSINESS)
- Article from:
- Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
- Article date:
- September 23, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Star Tribune Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Some of the state's top elected officials are urging the federal Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) to reverse a Medicare decision that limits use of a product manufactured by St. Paul-based Bio-Vascular Inc.
The HCFA has determined that Medicare will not reimburse the cost of a relatively new surgery for emphysema patents without further trials and study. After surgeons remove diseased tissue from lungs to ease breathing, Bio-Vascular's (BVAS) Peri-Strip is used to prevent leakage.
Sale of the Peri-Strip is important to Bio-Vascular's financial outlook. When Medicare still reimbursed the procedure in the fourth quarter of 1995 (October), ...