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Updated coverage criteria for trigger point injections without medication

September 14, 2020

Effective November 30, 2020, Independence is updating our policy on trigger point injections for both Commercial and Medicare Advantage members to reflect changes in coverage criteria for injections without the injection of medication or "dry needling".

Coverage criteria: 

  • Commercial: Dry needling is considered experimental/investigational for the treatment of myofascial pain, and is, therefore, not covered because the safety and/or effectiveness of this service cannot be established by review of the available published peer-reviewed literature. 

  • Medicare Advantage: Dry needling, for the treatment of myofascial pain is not covered by Medicare, and is therefore not covered by Independence, because the safety and/or effectiveness of this service cannot be established by review of the available published peer-reviewed literature. 

    • For​ more information on dry needling/acupuncture, please refer to Medicare Advantage policy #MA12.004a: Acupuncture.

​Learn more

For more information please refer to the following Independence policies, which were posted as Notifications on September 1, 2020, and will go into effect November 30, 2020. 

  • Commercial: #11.14.02p: Trigger Point Injections
  • Medicare Advantage: #MA11.017g: Trigger Point Injections 

To view the Notifications for these policies, visit our Medical Policy Portal. If you have any questions about this change, please email our Provider Network Services team at pnsproviderrequests@ibx.com

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