Second ablation and watchmen at the same time?

I recently spoke with my EP at Sutter Health in San Francisco, Dr Hao, and he indicated that he does not perform a second ablation and the watchmen at the same time. He indicated that when a Watchman device or other similar types of devices are inserted into a patient it limits the amount of future ablation work that I can occur at that spot. Is that correct? I think I've heard some other opinions on the topic before.

Thank you

I had a third ablation and Watchman (Dr. Natale) at the same unconscious procedure. When I told my local cardiologist he was going to do the two together he said Medicare would not pay for both done together with his practice's EPs; there had to be a healing period after the ablation. It may be a patient volume issue as TCA is a research facility.

Quote
JayBros
I had a third ablation and Watchman (Dr. Natale) at the same unconscious procedure. When I told my local cardiologist he was going to do the two together he said Medicare would not pay for both done together with his practice's EPs; there had to be a healing period after the ablation. It may be a patient volume issue as TCA is a research facility.

Had you already had your LAA isolated before this third ablation and Watchman? In other words, did Dr. Natale know for sure that you would need a Watchman before this third ablation and get Medicare approval, or did he get Medicare approval for the Watchman just “in case” he found that he needed to isolate the LAA? I am interested as I will be getting an ablation with Dr. Natale in the coming months.

I can't imagine any reason why Medicare would impose such a rule. All that would do is increase risk and significantly increase cost. I suspect the cardiologist didn't tell the whole story or glossed over something more complicated.