(January 4, 2006) -- Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) today announced that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved its application for a transitional pass-through payment category that will provide hospitals additional device payments when rechargeable neurostimulators such as the Precision® Implantable Pulse Generator (IPG) are implanted in the hospital outpatient setting.

Effective January 1, 2006, the new device pass-through code (C1820) includes both the rechargeable neurostimulator generator and the charging system. This code is only intended for use in the hospital outpatient setting under Medicare.

In related news, CMS has released the 2006 Medicare payment rates for the new neurostimulator Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) codes (L8680-L8699) that are used in the Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) setting. The 2006 payment rate for the Precision® rechargeable generator (L8687) represents a significant increase over the 2005 rate that did not differentiate between rechargeable and non-rechargeable neurostimulators.

“We are very pleased and applaud CMS for improving Medicare reimbursement for the Precision® neurostimulator in all sites of service after they concluded that rechargeable neurostimulators represent a substantial clinical improvement for Medicare patients,