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The rules say that plans must pay for a medical service or item if regular Medicare would pay for it in this case. 
You can find this rule at 42 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Section 422.101. 
 
The rules state thatStress echocardiography may be indicated in the care of patients with real or suspected 
ischemic heart disease in the following clinical settings: 
1. To detect coronary artery disease in patients presenting with chest pains including atypical chest pains 
and exertional dyspnea when the suspicion of CAD is high. 
2. To assess prognosis and functional capacity in patients following an acute myocardial infarction. 
3. To evaluate the extent of exercise induced ischemia in patients who have had a revascularization 
procedure (PCTA, stent or coronary bypass) or patients who have known CAD disease. 
4. In women, stress imaging has been recommended as the "initial test." 
5. To evaluate a prior nondiagnostic or abnormal ECG exercise test as a substitute for a nuclear perfusion 
study. 
6. To evaluate patients who are at high risk for myocardial infarction prior to a scheduled major surgical 
procedure (e.g., aneurysm, vascular surgery, surgeries with large volume shifts, etc) or transplant 
procedure. 
7. To evaluate patients presenting with various arrhythmias (atrial and/or ventricular) or syncope (near or 
pre), when the suspicion of occult coronary artery disease is high. 
8. To evaluate patients when an indicated standard exercise ECG is likely to be non-diagnostic, including 
patients with an abnormal resting ECG, orthostatic or hyperventilation induced ECG changes, non 
specific ST-T abnormalities due to ventricular hypertrophy drugs or associated intraventricular 
conduction defect. 
9. To assess myocardial viability (hibernating myocardium) for planned revascularization or functional 
significance of coronary lesions (if not already known) in planning percutaneous transluminal coronary 
angioplasty. 
10. To evaluate cardiomyopathy when the evaluation could reasonably be expected to contribute significant 
information regarding the patients condition or treatment plan. 
11. To evaluate ventricular dysfunction due to post-transplant rejection when the evaluation could 
reasonably be expected to contribute significant information regarding the patient's condition or 
treatment plan. 
12. To evaluate congenital heart disease, when stress echocardiography helps to determine systemic and 
right ventricular function at rest and following stress and the presence of any other structural 
abnormalities, including valvular lesions that may be accentuated with stress. 
13. Additionally, the test may combined with Doppler intervention to evaluate exercise hemodynamics in 
patients with mitral stenosis, mitral regurgitation, pulmonary hypertension, aortic stenosis/regurgitation, prosthetic valves and other conditions where symptoms suggest a more severe impairment than the 
assessment done at rest. 
14. Dobutamine stress echo may be indicated to detect low gradient, low output (aortic stenosis) or 
clinically silent transplant coronary disease. 
15.  LIMITATIONS  
1. Stress echocardiography used as a screening test for ischemic heart disease in a patient without 
signs or symptoms is not covered. 
2. "An echocardiographic study is not indicated when the pathology and/or systolic ventricular 
function have been adequately defined by other techniques, making the echocardiographic study 
redundant." (ACC/AHA/ASE 2003 Guideline Update, pg. 5) Since echocardiography, nuclear 
testing, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron emission tomography can yield 
overlapping if not identical information, often with similar or comparable accuracy, when two or 
more of these tests provide equivalent information, one (but not both/all) will be covered when 
medically necessary. Stress tests by multiple modalities (e.g. stress echocardiography, nuclear 
SPECT) for the same clinical event are covered only if the preceding test was inconclusive or 
uninterpretable. 
You can find this rule at Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Local Coverage Determination 
(LCD) L34338,  Transthoracic Echocardiography (TTE). 
If you want to read these Medicare rules, you can go to this website www.medicareappeal.com. 
 
The Plan contract says that the Plan covers items and services in accordance with Medicare rules.