Acessa Procedure Now Available to 20 Million More Women as a Result of Medicaid Programs Adding Coverage

More than 70 Million covered women now have access to the most comprehensive uterine fibroid treatment option with the least invasive technique

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Acessa Health Inc., developer of the Acessa System^®, announced today that 32 state Medicaid programs have listed the Acessa procedure on their fee schedules, providing improved access to this minimally invasive, uterine sparing alternative option to hysterectomy to millions of women suffering from symptomatic fibroids. These Medicaid states join national carriers such as Aetna, Molina and Tricare as well as several Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in Illinois, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Montana, Michigan and South Carolina in covering the procedure.

Despite this substantial momentum of insurance coverage, inconsistencies in benefit administration continue across the country. Today, most state Medicaid programs are administered by large, for-profit insurance carriers. As an example of the significant inconsistency in patients’ access to care, a Medicaid patient in Texas who has her benefits administered by Cigna (Health-Spring) or United Healthcare (Community Plan) can have access to the Acessa procedure; however, women who pay for commercial insurance with Cigna or United Health will not have the procedure covered. Providers, patients and Acessa Health are actively working with commercial payers to ensure all women have access to the less invasive procedure.

“The expansion of Medicaid coverage for the Acessa procedure represents another significant step forward in terms of recognizing the medical necessity of this procedure as well as increasing the number of options women have as alternatives to hysterectomy,” said Ryan Graver, vice president of market access at Acessa Health. “We are committed to improving awareness of all available treatment pathways for women with symptomatic uterine fibroids.”

Hysterectomy is the second most common surgery performed on reproductive-aged women and continues to be the primary treatment for women with uterine fibroids in the United States. As a result, one in three women in the U.S. will have had a hysterectomy by age 60. Uterine fibroids have been shown to impact between 70% and 80% of women before they reach the age of 55 with severe symptoms occurring in 15–30% of these patients^1,2,3. Recent studies have concluded that less invasive alternatives to hysterectomy are underutilized in women suffering from symptomatic uterine fibroids and that providers are in many cases are not discussing or offering patients these alternatives⁴.

The Acessa procedure is a minimally invasive, uterine sparing alternative option to hysterectomy. Acessa can treat almost all sizes and locations of fibroids, including those within the uterine walls. The procedure requires no cutting or suturing of uterine tissue, and patients typically go home the same day and have been shown to return to work and normal function within three to five days. FDA approved in 2012, the Acessa System has been used to successfully treat more than 2,000 women. A recent article published in the Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology noted that the Acessa procedure holds unique promise among surgeons because it avoids the need for fibroid enucleation (morcellation) and suturing, while retaining all the advantages of minimally invasive surgery⁵.

About the Acessa System

The Acessa System is the only radiofrequency ablation system cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in percutaneous, laparoscopic coagulation and ablation of soft tissue, including treatment of symptomatic uterine fibroids under laparoscopic ultrasound guidance. It has been the subject of 21 peer-reviewed publications across 750 study patients. In January 2017, the American Medical Association (AMA) issued a new Category 1 CPT code specifically for Laparoscopic Radiofrequency (RF) Ablation of Uterine Fibroids, paving the way for the Acessa procedure to become the standard of care for as many as 70 million women in the United States. For more information, visit AcessaProcedure.com.

About Acessa Health Inc.

Acessa Health is a women’s health innovator dedicated to advancing minimally invasive, uterine-sparing solutions for women with symptomatic fibroids. The company introduced the use of radiofrequency ablation for the treatment of uterine fibroids and is continuing to develop technologies that improve the lives of its patients. Acessa Health’s headquarters are in Austin, TX.

¹ Baird DD, Dunson DB, Hill MC, Cousins D, Schectman JM. High cumulative incidence of uterine leiomyoma in black and white women: ultrasound evidence. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2003;188(1):100-7.
² Borah BJ, Nicholson WK, Bradley L, Stewart EA. The impact of uterine leiomyomas: a national survey of affected women. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2013;209(4):319 e1- e20.
³ Cardozo ER, Clark AD, Banks NK, Henne MB, Stegmann BJ, Segars JH. The estimated annual cost of uterine leiomyomata in the United States. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2012;206(3):211 e1-9.
⁴ Corona LE, Swenson CW, Sheetz KH, et al. Use of other treatments before hysterectomy for benign conditions in a statewide hospital collaborative. American journal of obstetrics and gynecology. 2015 Mar;212(3):304, e301–307
⁵ Gingold JA, Gueye NA, and Falcone T, Minimally Invasive Approaches to Myoma Management, Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology, 2017 Jul 19. pii: S1553-4650(17)30394-1.