Palmetto GBA to cover PTNS therapy for patients with overactive bladder

Nov 20 2010

Uroplasty, Inc. (Nasdaq: UPI), a medical device company that develops, manufactures and markets innovative proprietary products to treat voiding dysfunctions, today announced that Palmetto GBA for California, Nevada and Hawaii, a regional Medicare carrier, now covers posterior tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS) using the Urgent® PC Neuromodulation System for the treatment of the symptoms of overactive bladder.

Palmetto GBA will cover PTNS therapy for patients who have failed or demonstrated intolerance to standard anticholinergic drug therapy. Coverage includes an initial course of 12 weekly PTNS treatments, and for those patients who respond to the initial treatments, additional treatments once every three weeks for up to one year.

With this positive PTNS coverage and the positive coverage announced previously by five other regional carriers, the total number of lives covered by Medicare regional carriers is approximately 12 million. The five other regional carriers include Noridian Administrative Services, LLC, for North and South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Wyoming, Utah and Arizona; Palmetto GBA for South Carolina; CIGNA Government Services for Idaho and North Carolina; Palmetto GBA for Ohio and West Virginia; and Pinnacle Business Solutions for Arkansas and Louisiana.

"We believe the strong clinical data that supports PTNS led the regional Medicare carriers to determine that PTNS treatments meet the criteria for medical necessity," said David Kaysen, President and CEO of Uroplasty, Inc. "We continue to present the growing body of clinical data to the medical directors of the other Medicare carriers, and private payers, to encourage them to cover and reimburse PTNS."