Blue Shield of California (BSC) and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Federal Employee Plan (BCBS FEP) have included Itamar Medical Ltd.’s device, WatchPAT as a covered home sleep apnea diagnostic test.  Itamar Medical also announced the release of the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) 2020 Fee Schedule which is the second year of a 3-year proposed plan by CMS to reevaluate reimbursement in home sleep apnea diagnostic codes.  The changes made in the 2020 Fee Schedule are expected to continue to support and expand the broad use of its WatchPAT technology.
 
Both BSC, a health plan that covers approximately 3.7 million lives, and BCBS FEP, a health plan that covers approximately 5.3 million lives, updated their policies to include WatchPAT based on the PAT technology with oximetry and actigraphy, as a covered home sleep apnea diagnostic test.  This inclusion of WatchPAT and PAT technology follows an assessment of Diagnosis and Medical Management of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome recently released by Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Evidence Street.
 
“The inclusion of WatchPAT as a recommended test for sleep apnea in the BCBS Evidence Street assessment is an important validation of the clinical value that Itamar’s PAT technology provides,” said Gilad Glick, president and CEO of Itamar Medical. “We believe that the Evidence Street assessment recommendation will result in expanded BCBS plan coverage and that this expanded coverage, combined with the recently announced CMS Fee Schedule changes, will drive further adoption and market share of WatchPAT.”