Oppenheimer says Aetna’s PAD prior authorization spills over to Humana

Oppenheimer analyst Suraj Kalia notes that ShockWave Medical’s (SWAV) comments post-Q2 call suggested Intravascular Lithotripsy, or IVL, wasn’t being subject to scrutiny vs. atherectomy. However, Aetna’s PAD policy changes, seem to have spilled over to IVL, forcing ShockWave Medical to reverse its position on the Q3 call. The debate now is if will Aetna reverse this change, or will there be spillover to other payers also. Oppenheimer says that unless it is reading it wrong, Humana (HUM) recently seems to have added peripheral artery disease, or PAD, revascularization to its prior authorization codes. Unclear if IVL is scoped into these prior authorization changes as well, the firm adds. Oppenheimer has an Underperform rating on ShockWave’s shares with a price target of $165.