IPSIS Takes Action to Safeguard Patient Access

IPSIS has convened 24 medical societies representing more than 100,000 physicians to submit unified comment letters urging five Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) — CGS, Noridian, NGS, Palmetto, and WPS — to rescind or postpone their proposed non-coverage determinations for peripheral nerve blocks (PNBs), peripheral nerve radiofrequency ablation (RFA), and related interventional procedures used to treat chronic pain.

These joint letters, developed through IPSIS’s leadership in collaboration with the Multisociety Pain Workgroup (MPW) and other supporting organizations, emphasizes that these proposed Local Coverage Determinations (LCDs) fail to reflect the substantial body of clinical evidence supporting the safety, effectiveness, and value of these minimally invasive, non-opioid procedures.

Click on the MAC names above to read the letters, which further outline that:

• PNBs and RFA are integral to precision-based pain management and have decades of demonstrated clinical use across multiple specialties, including Pain Medicine, PM&R, Anesthesiology, Neurology, and Radiology.
• The proposed LCDs disregard multisociety guidelines and peer-reviewed literature confirming the effectiveness of these therapies for conditions such as occipital neuralgia, complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), and knee osteoarthritis.
• Removing coverage for these procedures would contradict CMS’s own opioid reduction and value-based care initiatives, likely leading to increased reliance on opioid medications, costly surgeries, and diminished quality of life for Medicare beneficiaries living with chronic pain.

Our societies stand ready to engage directly with the MAC medical directors to ensure that any future LCDs accurately reflect the best available evidence and preserve access to effective, non-opioid pain management options.

IPSIS advocates for evidence-based policies that expand access to safe, effective treatments for individuals suffering from debilitating pain. Help sustain this vital advocacy with your donations. The International Pain and Spine Intervention Society (IPSIS) is a tax exempt organization under US section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. As such, contributions are deductible to the extent allowed by law.