STAT November 11, 2025
As insurers pay for more AI-powered devices, the debate over value grows
When patients visit Matthew Budoff for a CT angiogram of their heart, the preventive cardiologist may tell them about a new test. It’s not covered by insurance, he explains, but for an extra $850, an artificial intelligence algorithm can quantify and characterize the volume of plaque in their coronary arteries. How much of that plaque is calcified and stable? How much is the more dangerous soft plaque that could rupture and cause a heart attack or stroke?
Budoff is one of a relatively small number of cardiologists and radiologists who offer AI plaque analysis of those coronary CT studies. But...
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