Final changes to Medicare hospital-reimbursement levels for the upcoming U.S. fiscal year appear slightly improved compared with a generally benign earlier proposal, suggesting the system won’t create headaches for medical-device companies in the near term.
Many pricey devices such as implantable defibrillators and heart stents are sold to hospitals, which often recoup their costs from Medicare payments tied to various types of procedures. While the link between Medicare payments and device prices is tenuous, the annual Medicare changes are still watched closely for clues to potential pricing trends for companies such as Medtronic Inc. (MDT), Boston Scientific Corp
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