Court approves electrical therapy treatment

In response to a lawsuit filed by the American Physical Therapy Association, a U.S. District Court in Massachusetts issued a preliminary injunction forcing HCFA to stop enforcement of a July decision to deny Medicare coverage of electrical stimulation therapy for wound treatment.

As a result of the injunction, Medicare carriers and intermediaries are again authorized to cover and reimburse electrical stimulation therapy in those cases in which they determine that such therapy is reasonable and necessary.

According to the court, "there needs to be, at the least, a better explanation by HCFA of its coverage determination and, perhaps, a revision of that determination."