Medicare Expands Thoratec Coverage

Thoratec Corp., a maker of mechanical devices that help the heart pump blood, won expanded coverage for a company product from Medicare.

The product, a ventricular assist device, is a motorized pump that assumes some of the work of a damaged heart.

Before the move, Medicare covered such devices only as a temporary treatment before a heart transplant or after open-heart surgery.

The program now will pay for their permanent use.

Shares of Pleasanton, Calif.-based Thoratec fell 29 cents to $16.41 on Nasdaq. They have more than doubled since the start of the year.