Health Policy Affairs

On Feb 26, Neil Resnick, MD, FSIR, represented SIR at a public National Government Services (NGS) Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) meeting, on Thermal Destruction of the Intraosseous Basivertebral Nerve (BVN) for Vertebrogenic Lower Back Pain, proposed local coverage determination (LCD -DL40302).

During the meeting, SIR advocated for important revisions to the draft policy, including removal of device-specific language, reduction of overly prescriptive conservative care requirements, elimination of unsupported exclusions, and preservation of individualized clinical decision-making. Basivertebral nerve ablation (BVN) is supported by Level I evidence, and coverage policy should accurately reflect the strength of the data while safeguarding appropriate patient access.

Following the meeting, SIR submitted a formal comment letter to NGS, supported by the American College of Radiology (ACR), outlining our concerns with the proposed policy.