Natera says 'largest U.S. health plan' now covers NIPT for all pregnancies

Natera (NTRA) announced that "the largest health plan in the United States" has extended coverage of NIPT to all pregnancies. "The average risk NIPT market is significantly underpenetrated, and lack of payor coverage has been the primary barrier for broad adoption. Studies have shown that broad adoption of NIPT could result in 98% fewer false positives and 20% fewer false negative results for common aneuploidies, compared to older screening modalities. Today's announcement has the potential to have a positive impact on health outcomes for pregnancies in the U.S," said Paul Billings, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Natera. Ramesh Hariharan, General Manager of Natera's Women's Health business, added: "As the market leader, Natera is in a strong position to capitalize on the significant volume growth opportunity and improved test economics resulting from these policy changes. We believe we are on track to achieve profitability in our Women's Health business in 2021."