Jul 18, 2003
Guidant Urges Conferees to Move Swiftly on Medicare Reform

Calls on Conference to Seize Historic Opportunity to Improve Quality and Expand Access Through Greater Choice, Competition and Innovation

Indianapolis, Ind. - Guidant Corporation (NYSE: GDT), a world leader in the treatment of cardiac and vascular disease, today called on House and Senate conferees to move swiftly in reconciling their differences and agreeing on a final Medicare reform bill that improves the quality of healthcare in the United States by providing greater choice for seniors, enhancing program competition and promoting continued medical innovation.

"With passage of Medicare Reform in both chambers, our government is on the threshold of enacting the most meaningful healthcare reform legislation in more than a generation," said Ronald W. Dollens, president and chief executive officer, Guidant Corporation. "We applaud the House and Senate, and also the President, for advancing reforms that give seniors access to a prescription drug benefit with multiple choice and coverage options. Now, Medicare reform''s fate rests squarely with the members of the Conference Committee."

Dollens, who also serves as chairman of the Healthcare Leadership Council (HLC), an organization of CEOs of the nation''s premier healthcare companies and institutions, said his company plans to meet with key congressional conferees to urge swift action on Medicare reform. In these meetings, Guidant will stress what it views as the fundamental principles that are essential for effecting truly meaningful Medicare reform, including provisions which will ensure that:

* Private health plans will want to join the program because they have the flexibility and support to compete fairly on quality and value'"thereby giving seniors a true choice;

* Healthcare providers receive fair payment for medical services, resulting in greater access to high-quality care;

* Beneficiaries have access to new medical treatments and therapies by providing timely and adequate coverage of, and payment for, procedures involving innovative technologies.

Under the current system, Medicare beneficiaries do not always enjoy the same access to medical innovations that can save or enhance the quality of life for seniors. In many cases, these very same medical innovations are being made available to federal workers and private sector employees through private insurance plans.

As a case in point, Dollens cited his own company''s recent efforts to encourage Medicare to provide consistent coverage for Guidant''s breakthrough implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). While the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently signaled its intent to expand coverage of this lifesaving device, it stopped short of covering many types of patients who clearly benefited from this therapy in major clinical trials.

"As it currently operates, the Medicare system is simply incapable of keeping up with the pace of innovation in American healthcare today," Dollens remarked.

"The House and Senate conferees have a chance to make history by bringing consistency and equity to the Medicare system," Dollens said. "This is not the time to let partisan differences or ideological purity slow the momentum in getting a final bill to the President."

Guidant Corporation pioneers lifesaving technology, giving an opportunity for a better life today to millions of cardiac and vascular patients worldwide. The company, driven by a strong entrepreneurial culture of more than 11,000 employees, develops, manufactures and markets a broad array of products and services that enable less invasive care for some of life''s most threatening medical conditions. For more information, visit www.guidant.com.