Company: BSX
Filing Date: 2025-02-18
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000885725-25-000011
Chunk: 29

Company: BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORP
Filing Date: 2025-02-18
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 29
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 care, have catalyzed a consolidation of aggregate purchasing power within the markets in which we sell our products. Additionally, a growing number of countries have instituted or are contemplating introducing regional or national tender processes driven primarily by price. In some cases, such processes may favor local companies to multinational companies like us. In other instances, multinational companies may be subject to a separate tender bidding process in which they compete only with each other and not with domestic companies. Further, in certain markets, the regulatory process through which new medical devices are approved may be faster and/or less burdensome for domestic companies compared to multinational companies. As the health care industry consolidates, competition to provide products and services is expected to continue to intensify, resulting in pricing pressures, decreased average selling prices and the exclusion of certain suppliers from important market segments. We expect that market demand, government regulation, third-party coverage and reimbursement policies, government contracting requirements and societal pressures will continue to change the worldwide health care industry, resulting in further business consolidations and alliances among our customers, which may increase competition, exert further downward pressure on the prices of our products and services and may adversely impact our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Health care cost containment pressures, government payment and delivery system reforms, changes in private payer policies, and marketplace consolidations could decrease the demand for our products, the prices which customers are willing to pay for those products and/or the number of procedures performed using our devices, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. 

Our products are purchased principally by hospitals, physicians and other health care providers around the world that typically bill various third-party payers, including government programs, authorities or agencies (e.g., Medicare and Medicaid in the U.S.) and private health plans, for the health care supplies and services provided to their patients. Governments and payers may institute changes in health care delivery or payment systems that may reduce funding for services or encourage greater scrutiny of health care costs. The ability of customers to obtain appropriate reimbursement for their products and services is critical to the success of medical technology companies because it affects which products customers purchase and the prices they are willing to pay. Reimbursement and funding vary by country and can significantly impact the acceptance of new products and technologies and the use of established products and technologies. We may find limited demand for otherwise promising new products unless reimbursement approval is obtained from private and governmental third-party payers. Further legislative or administrative reforms to the reimbursement systems in the U.S., Japan, China, or other countries