ZimVie announces additional policy decisions for VBT

ZimVie announced that Highmark, one of America’s leading health insurance organizations and an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, which covers primarily Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, and West Virginia, and BCBS North Dakota, the largest payer in the state of North Dakota, have issued positive medical policy decisions applicable to vertebral body tethering, VBT. Effective January 30, 2023 for Highmark and March 6, 2023 for BCBS North Dakota, the policies outline the criteria for medical necessity and expand potential treatment eligibility to patients indicated for VBT within the 4+ million members covered under Highmark and the 280,000+ lives covered by BCBS North Dakota. "The Highmark and BCBS North Dakota coverage decisions validate the expectation we noted when we announced the Anthem BCBS positive coverage decision in July, that additional policy updates would follow. It is encouraging to see broader endorsement of this opportunity to positively impact the lives of children with scoliosis through a motion preserving alternative to spinal fusion," said Rebecca Whitney, SVP and President of Global Spine for ZimVie. "We are honored to work with orthopedic and neurosurgeons to develop vertebral body tethering solutions that may allow children with scoliosis to return to their active daily lives."