Posted by crazy777girl on July 13, 2006, at 6:42:57
In reply to VNS and insurance companies, posted by jaclinhyde on July 9, 2006, at 11:03:17
Cyberonics, the manufactuere of the implant, is very proactive in pushing thru appeals all over the country. This is not new or investigational. It has been used for years for epilepsy, and has received FULL FDA approval for depression. They know the ins & outs of insurance company appeal processes & will move this through for you if you are a candidate & approved by your pdoc. Don't worry about the insurance. Get started, if it's been determined it's for you. Let Cyberonics & your nurse case manager do the rest.
A.
> Since my husband just got a job with Intel and we added Cigna as our primary insurance carrier with tricare as our backup, I was happy (yet saddened) to read the following....
>
> "DEPRESSION
> New Depression Treatment Needs Insurance: Advocate
> Saturday Feb 18 2006, 2:51am PDT - Irani
>
> It was since 1997, epilepsy is being successfully treated with the help of a pacemaker-type device, Vagus Nerve Stimulation therapy, or VNS. But, VNS could also treat people who suffer from clinical depression, a study by the Food and Drug Administration revealed.
>
> But, the sadder part of it is major insurance companies have denied families coverage for VNS. This is because, it is claimed that not enough studies have been done on the technology to merit full coverage. Mark Wright, spokesman for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, said this as his companies official stance on VNS.
>
> It is only United HealthCare, Empire BCBS and Cigna that approve VNS therapy reimbursement on a case-by-case basis, among 90 of the biggest insurance providers.
>
> Via: Hernando Today"
>
> I mean, only 3 out of 90 insurance carriers!!!! That is so sad.
>
> Here is the link, btw. It has an article on emsam on the same page.
>
> http://www.depressionblog.org/page/5/
>
> JH
poster:crazy777girl
thread:665413
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060709/msgs/666616.html