medicare battery life percentage

My ICD battery is starting to get low. I was told the battery had to get below a certan percentage before medicare would pay for replacement. What is the percentage of battery life before medicare will pay for replacing my St Jude ICD?

4 Comments

As I understand it Medicare

by janetinak - 2012-02-29 03:02:28

& most, if not all, insurance co's wait for ERT (Elective Replacement Time) at least that was how it was for my PM recently. This is shown by an office visit & interrogation. Call the co. that made your device & they can tell you hown many days that is before End of Life. My PM had 90 days. Hope this helps.

Janet

Chest disconfort & Battery Low

by fosrams - 2012-02-29 04:02:55

I went to Cardioligist complaining of pain in ICD area. They checked & said it may be a pinched nerve the wires are aginst. Recomended replacing the unit because the battery was getting low, however they said medicare wants the battery to be 1.5% lower before they would pay for replacement. I have an apointment the end of March to discuss replacement - I'll have to put up with the pain till then. Feels like i am being stabed when i move sometimes.

ERI

by shockbox340 - 2012-03-01 10:03:43

ERI (Elective Replacement Indicator) is the pacemaker/ICD equivalent of the low gas light coming on in your car. Your aren't out of gas yet, but it's time to find a station! Technical details vary among different devices and different manufacturers, but in general an ICD should have enough battery life left to either monitor you for several months (minimum 3, some as many as 6) and deliver multiple max energy shocks if needed. There's no need to worry about your device reaching ERI before your next appointment, because it will still be protecting you. But be sure to stick with the appointment protocol, because you may not have a lot of extra time available.

On pacemakers, devices at ERI frequently disable many features and scale back to basic pacing as a means to maximize the battery life remaining. This can sometimes be noticable to the patient. If you know you are close and suddenly feel different, that could be the cause.

Good luck!

medicare

by brokenheart - 2012-03-03 01:03:54

Hi. I think you should call your specific insurance and ask them. Do u have regular medicare or another insurance under medicare? I have medicare thru united health and I called and asked them if i had to wait until the elective replacement kicked in to get it changed. They said i did not have to wait until then. It was up to my doctor to decide. So I am going to ask him to do it soon. Before that setting kicks in. I hope they will do the same for you .

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