Currently, there are eight hyaluronic acid products that have been approved
by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
to treat osteoarthritis of the knee: Euflexxa®,
Gel-One®, Hyalgan®, Monovisc®,
Orthovisc®, Supartz®, Synvisc®, and
Synvisc-One®. These products have demonstrated equivalent
therapeutic results when used for this indication.
Effective September 1, 2015, our commercial medical policy
on these drugs will be updated. All eight hyaluronic acid
products will continue to be eligible for coverage, but the criteria for using
the designated preferred and nonpreferred
products will change.
We ask that you familiarize yourself with the new version of this policy,
which will be available after June 3, 2015,
in the Policy Notifications section of our Medical Policy Portal.
Select Accept and Go to Medical Policy Online, then in the Policy
Notifications section, select Commercial and type the policy
number or title in
the Search box: #11.14.07m: Intra-Articular Injection of Hyaluronan for the
Treatment of Osteoarthritis.
In accordance with the criteria listed in our commercial policy,
Orthovisc®, Synvisc®, and
Synvisc-One® will continue to
be Independence?s preferred hyaluronic acid products for the treatment of
osteoarthritis of the knee.