U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Improving the health, safety, and well-being of America
|
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services |
|
|
Improving the health, safety, and well-being of America |
Font Size 
Print 
Download Reader 
This is an archive page. The links are no longer being updated.
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, June 29, 2001 |
Contact: | CMS Press Office (202) 690-6145 |
"This coverage decision emphasizes our commitment to making the best in proven new technologies available to Medicare beneficiaries," Secretary Thompson said. "This is especially important because incontinence affects so many Medicare beneficiaries, and this procedure can significantly improve many people's quality of life."
Urinary incontinence affects approximately 13 million adults in the United States, with nearly half of nursing home residents having some degree of incontinence. It is twice as prevalent in women as it is in men, and costs more than $15 billion per year, including both direct treatment of the disease and nursing home costs.
Under this treatment, an electrical pulse generator about the size of a pacemaker is implanted in the abdominal wall of a patient, with a wire leading to the sacral nerves, which help control bladder contractions. Electrical impulses are transmitted from the generator to the sacral nerves through the implanted wire. These impulses control the troublesome contractions of the bladder muscle, giving the patient the ability to regulate the frequent and uncontrollable contractions that cause incontinence.
In order to be eligible for this procedure, a Medicare beneficiary with urge incontinence or the urgency-frequency syndrome must also have failed more conservative treatments, such as behavioral modifications, drug therapy or other surgical interventions.
The decision by CMS, formerly the Health Care Financing Administration, to expand coverage was made using Medicare's evidence-based coverage process. The scientific and clinical evidence reviewed by CMS regarding the clinical value of sacral nerve stimulation is sufficient to support coverage of this technology for Medicare beneficiaries nationwide.
"CMS' new coverage process is helping Medicare make the right decisions, based on scientific evidence, on when the program should cover new items, services and procedures," said Jeffrey Kang, M.D., director of CMS' Office of Clinical Standards and Quality.
More information can be found at cms.hhs.gov/covrage/8b3-htm.