CMS considers expanding reimbursement for carotid stenting.

On January 25, 2012, Medicare (CMS) held a meeting to consider issues related to the current management of carotid arterial disease. One of the most important of these issues is whether or not Medicare should expand reimbursement for carotid artery stenting (CAS) to include patients with asymptomatic and low or standard surgical risk symptomatic carotid stenosis. Opinions vary widely regarding the justification for such expanded reimbursement. Since this is such an important issue for both patients and physicians, and since the economic consequences of expanded reimbursement are substantial, the editors of VASCULAR deemed it worthwhile to present opposing views on whether or not the existing data justify expansion of the criteria for reimbursement for CAS. The following two articles present these opposing views.