DC Medicaid Becomes the First Medicaid Plan to Cover the Nerivio® REN Wearable, a Non-Drug Treatment for Migraine

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May 21, 2024, 08:15 ET

This represents the second federally funded insurance plan, after the Veteran Administration (VA), to cover the innovative therapy

BRIDGEWATER, N.J. and NETANYA, Israel, May 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Theranica, a neuromodulation therapeutics company, today announced DC Medicaid's coverage of the Nerivio^® REN wearable, the first and only FDA-cleared, non-drug, non-disruptive treatment for both acute attacks and prevention of migraine with or without aura in adolescents and adults ages 12 and older. This coverage will empower DC Medicaid beneficiaries living with migraine with a non-invasive, drug-free treatment option.

Nerivio is indicated for dual-use in people 12 years and older

In addition to the VA, DC Medicaid is now the second federally funded insurance plan to cover the Nerivio REN wearable, offering life changing relief to people living with migraine. Nerivio harnesses the natural power of the brain to abort migraine pain and associated symptoms without drugs or disruption, so patients can safely and effectively prevent and treat migraine and be present in everyday life. DC Medicaid covers over 300,000 members in the greater Washington D.C. area, accounting for 45% of the District's population.

DC's Medicaid decision is significant in setting the course for additional federally funded programs as well as commercial insurance providers across the U.S. Earlier this year, Highmark Inc. and Blue Cross Blue Shield North Dakota announced coverage for Nerivio, leading the effort to increase access to effective drug-free prescribed migraine treatments with clinical benefits properly backed by high-quality data.

"I commend DC Medicaid's decision to cover the Nerivio REN wearable for both acute and preventive treatment of migraines, providing much-needed relief to underserved patients," said Professor Christopher Gottschalk, MD, FAHS, General Neurology Section Chief and Director of the Headache & Facial Pain Center at Yale University, and the Immediate Past President of the Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy (AHDA) "By embracing clinically proven, non-pharmacologic therapies such as a REN wearable, we're not only improving patient outcomes but also advancing the standard of care for people living with migraine."

"This is such great news," added Marc DiSabella, DO, Director of the Headache Program at Children's National Hospital in Washington D.C. "Now this treatment can be used as first-line therapy in our young migraine patients with DC Medicaid or managed health plans".

Many of the 40 million patients living with migraine in the U.S. need a non-disruptive way to both treat and prevent migraine, and having insurance coverage is paramount for most. Additionally, a health economics outcome study published in The Journal of Health Economics demonstrated significant savings to health insurance companies, estimated at $10,000 in annual cost per member, when covering Nerivio for prevention of migraine.

"A recent report from the Headache and Migraine Policy Forum states that eight in 10 patients say limited access to care leads to more frequent and severe migraine attacks," said Alon Ironi, CEO of Theranica. "This underscores Theranica's commitment to providing a non-disruptive and drug-free migraine treatment and also highlights the importance of DC Medicaid's decision to expand access to clinically proven treatments. The in-depth clinical evaluation by Highmark in 2022-2023 has paved the way for DC Medicaid, BCBS North Dakota, and other payers to follow suit and prioritize the well-being of their members living with migraine."

For more information about the Nerivio REN wearable and to download a prescription form, please visit Nerivio.com.

About Nerivio
Controlled by a smartphone app and self-administered, the Nerivio REN wearable is a complete migraine care treatment that wraps around the upper arm and uses sub-painful Remote Electrical Neuromodulation (REN) to activate nociceptive nerve fibers in the arm. These fibers send signals that trigger a descending pain management mechanism in the brain called conditioned pain modulation (CPM), which turns off migraine pain and associated symptoms without medication. In simpler terms, the upper arm is stimulated to unleash a natural process in the brain to abort or relieve migraine headaches and other associated symptoms. Each treatment lasts 45 minutes and is applied every other day for prevention or at the start of a migraine attack for acute treatment.

About Theranica
Theranica is a neuromodulation therapeutics company dedicated to creating effective, safe, affordable, low-side-effect therapies for idiopathic pain conditions. The company's award-winning flagship wearable, Nerivio®, is the first FDA-cleared prescribed migraine REN wearable for acute and/or preventive treatment of migraine. Nerivio has been used in more than 650,000 migraine treatments in the U.S., including by adolescents and veterans. Learn more by visiting our websites, theranica.com and nerivio.com, and following us on LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.
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