Health officials consider coverage of body scan

Health officials consider coverage of body scan

Wire Services
November 7, 2000


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The Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee, a panel formed last year to decide what treatments Medicare covers, is considering a proposal that Medicare cover a state-of-the-art body scan that can detect several types of illnesses.

Proponents of positron emission tomography (PET) scanning, which costs $2,000 to $3,000 per scan, say the procedure could benefit patients by diagnosing illnesses more accurately.

The inclusion of such an expense could determine how Medicare defines what future high-tech treatments are covered.

The PET scan procedure is similar to CAT and MRI scans. However, PET scans produce more than just three-dimensional images of internal organs. The PET scan can tell a health care professional how well an organ is operating.

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