CMS Decision - No Material Financial Impact to Medicsight
June 05 2009 - 12:46PM
PR Newswire (US)
NEW YORK, June 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Medicsight PLC, a
subsidiary of MGT Capital Investments, Inc. (NYSE Amex: MGT) and an
industry leader in the development of Computer-Aided Detection
(CAD) and image analysis software, which assists radiologists in
the early detection of disease, comments on the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) decision not to reimburse
virtual colonoscopy (CT colonography or CTC) for the routine colon
cancer screening of Medicare patients in the U.S. The CMS decision
has no material financial impact to Medicsight and only affects 12%
of the eligible screening population in the United States. CTC
continues to be reimbursed by Medicare for diagnostic procedures
under certain conditions. Furthermore, a significant number (over
50 million) of the eligible screening population will have private
insurance coverage that is likely to provide for CTC screening.
Despite Medicare's decision, 28 US States (and growing) currently
mandate coverage for colorectal cancer screening, most adopting the
American Cancer Society (ACS) standards which include use of CTC. A
number of private payers have already started to offer CTC as a
"covered benefit" in their insurance policies and those payers,
including Wellpoint/Anthem, Cigna and several Blue Cross Blue
Shield plans, representing approximately 50 million covered
patients. There are projected to be 65 million U.S. residents aged
between 50-64 by 2015. Currently 80% of this age group currently
has private insurance coverage according to Kaiser Permanente, a
leading US health insurance provider. Allan Rowley, Chief Executive
Officer of Medicsight, commented: "The Company is excited about the
enormous potential to improve colorectal screening compliance with
the use of screening CTC and has already begun working with various
groups to support coverage among non-Medicare payers." Perry J.
Pickhardt, MD., Associate Professor of Radiology at University of
Wisconsin, suggested: "To deny coverage for Medicare beneficiaries
of a potentially life-saving test that is better, safer, more
convenient and less costly than invasive colonoscopy is clearly a
misguided decision that should ultimately be reversed by
legislative correction." Following the CMS decision, Congresswoman
Kay Granger (R-Texas), commented, "There is clear evidence that
when insurance reimbursement is available for virtual
colonoscopies, more people are screened for colorectal cancer. Less
than half of those who should be screened receive a colonoscopy. We
need to make sure more Americans are screened for this deadly yet
preventable disease." (1) (1) WASHINGTON, D.C., May 12 2009
kaygranger.house.gov About MGT Capital Investments, Inc. MGT
Capital Investments, Inc. is a technology holding company that
focuses on investments in the global healthcare information
technology market. The Company has two subsidiaries, Medicsight PLC
and Medicexchange Ltd. Medicsight PLC (AIM: MDST) is a
UK-headquartered, research driven, leading developer of
computer-aided detection (CAD) and image analysis software for the
medical imaging market. The CAD software automatically highlights
suspicious areas on computerized tomography (CT) scans of the colon
and lung, helping radiologists to identify, measure and analyze
potential disease and early indicators of disease. Medicsight's CAD
software has been validated using one of the world's largest and
most population diverse databases of verified patient CT scan data.
Medicsight's ColonCAD(TM) and LungCAD(TM) software products are
seamlessly integrated with the advanced 3D visualization
workstations of several industry-leading imaging equipment
partners. Medicexchange Ltd. provides medical imaging professionals
with a global web portal containing an online sales, jobs and
information channel for diagnostic, treatment and surgery planning
solutions. This combined with a variety of relevant clinical
papers, training materials and content gives these professionals
access to information and products that they otherwise would have
difficulty accessing. Additional information can be found at
http://www.mgtci.com/. All forward-looking statements are made
pursuant to the 'safe harbor' provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based
on current management expectations that involve risks and
uncertainties that may result in such expectations not being
realized. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not
limited to, the risks described in company filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Investor & Media enquiries:
KCSA Strategic Communications Todd Fromer / Garth Russell Tel: +1
212-896-1215 / 212-896-1250 DATASOURCE: MGT Capital Investments,
Inc. CONTACT: Todd Fromer, +1-212-896-1215, , or Garth Russell,
+1-212-896-1250, , both of KCSA Strategic Communications for MGT
Capital Investments, Inc. Web Site: http://www.mgtci.com/
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