The Medicare administrative contractor Wisconsin Physician Services Insurance now covers minimally invasive sacroiliac joint fusion.
Here are five key notes:
1. WPS covers Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Indiana and Michigan, with updated local coverage determinations to include the percutaneous minimally invasive fusion of the sacroiliac joint.
2. The coverage will begin Dec. 17, 2015.
3. WPS made the coverage update based on expanded clinical evidence and professional medical society guidelines and recommendations.
4. The CDC reports lower back pain is the second most common cause of disability in the United States among adults, and it's been reported around 20 percent of all chronic low back pain derives from the sacroiliac joint.
5. MACs have been adding minimally invasive SI joint fusion to their coverage over the past two years, most recently the Cahaba Government Benefit Administrators covering Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. The procedure has a Category I CPT code as of January 2015.
"Zyga is proud to partner with physicians and Professional Medical Societies to ensure that patients have access to new minimally invasive therapies such as sacroiliac joint fusion," said Jim Bullock, president and CEO of Zyga Technology, manufacturer of SImmetry Sacroiliac Joint Fusion System.