The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont established a written coverage policy for minimally invasive sacroiliac joint fusion.
Here are five things to know:
1. The policy covers more than 200,000 health plan members for minimally invasive SI joint fusion. The policy goes into effect on July 1.
2. BCBSVT is the fourth Blue Cross Blue Shield insurer to cover MIS SI joint fusion; now more than 18 million BCBS beneficiaries have coverage for the procedure in eight states.
3. Around 43 percent of lumbar fusion patients report new or persistent low back pain after lumbar fusions, and the SI joint can be attributed to 14 to 30 percent of the patients with chronic low back pain.
4. The North American Spine Society has coverage criteria for MIS SI joint fusion based on published peer-reviewed clinical literature. SI-BONE's iFuse technology is used on many MIS SI joint fusion procedures.