Insurance Companies are beginning to reimburse for vagus nerve stimulation therapy for depression. Insurance companies are giant bureacracies who have layers of people to whose only job is to say "no".

Reimbursement decisions are being made on a case-by-by case basis. According to the manufacturer of the vagus nerve stimulator "the first 90 days of the planned year-long launch of this medical device, the numbers of physicians and patients actively pursuing VNS Therapy more than doubled, stated Mr. Cummins, Chairman of Cyberonics. For vagus nerve stimulation, 1,239 MDs submitted 3,234 prescriptions.

The more than doubling in the numbers of physicians and patients actively moving towards VNS Therapy in the first 90 days after TRD launch is a testament to psychiatrists positive response to Cyberonics medical education programs, continued Mr. Cummins. With over 2,000 psychiatrists and 250 new VNS Therapy surgeons educated and trained in Q2, we are ahead of our original plan to educate and train over 5,000 psychiatrists and some 1,000 new VNS surgeons in the year 2006.

The manufacturer continued its statement by explaining that in terms of national and regional coverage policies, it had made made good progress with all the major technology assessment organizations and all the major payers to obtain favorable national coverage policy more quickly relative to launch than Cyberonics did in epilepsy. Four factors are important in accomplishing.

1) A rapidly growing list of psychiatrists, patients and patient advocacy groups are becoming increasingly vocal advocates for parity for TRD patients in terms of VNS Therapy coverage and access relative to epilepsy patients.

2)Existing treatment-resistant depressed assessments and coverage policies are based on extremely limited pre-FDA approval, publicly-available information.

3)All of the data and analyses that compelled FDA to approve VNS Therapy as the first and only treatment for TRD are now readily available from multiple public sources, including the products labeling, FDAs Summary of Safety and Effectiveness and a growing list of peer-reviewed publications in well-respected psychiatric journals.

4)Payment rates for VNS Therapy services, such as the 2006 Medicare payment rates that were posted in the CMS website last week, continue to increase indicating that VNS Therapy is widely regarded as a safe, effective and cost-effective therapy.

In the first 90 days after the launch of vagus nerve stimulation therapy, 22 different payers, including large payers such as:

• Aetna
• Alliance
• Seven different Blue Cross or Blue Shield organizations
• Cigna
• Healthnet
• Medicare
• Medicaid
• and United Healthcare have approved or reimbursed between one and 12 VNS Therapy TRD implants

You can learn more about this remarkable treatment at http://www.VagusNerveStimulator.com

Charles Donovan was a patient in the FDA investigational trial of vagus nerve stimulation as a treatment for chronic or recurrent treatment-resistant depression. He was implanted with the vagus nerve stimulator in April of 2001. He chronicles his journey from the grips of depression thanks to vagus nerve stimulation therapy in his book:

Out of the Black Hole: The Patient's Guide to Vagus Nerve Stimulation and Depression