Humana and Aetna have joined other major insurance companies in covering NxThera’s Rezūm System to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), or enlarged prostate.
NxThera, a Minnesota-based medical device company, uses radiofrequency thermal technology to treat endo-urological conditions. Its Rezūm System converts radiofrequency current into thermal energy that rapidly and effectively ablates the extra prostate tissue that causes BPH. The system is minimally invasive, and improves patients’ quality of life and ability to urinate.
With this added coverage, Rezūm is now available to more than 80 percent of men with BPH nationwide.
BPH is the most common prostate problem for men aged 50 and older, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. In 2010, as many as 14 million American males suffered from lower urinary tract symptoms, thought to be linked with BPH. The institute says BPH affects about half of men between 51 and 60, and up to 90 percent of men older than 80.
In addition, men aged 40 and older who are obese, don’t exercise and have heart or circulatory disease, are more likely to develop BPH. So are men with a family history of BPH and those who suffer from erectile dysfunction.
“Our mission is to improve the lives of men suffering from BPH, and the Rezūm System provides urologists and their patients with a safe, effective and durable treatment option with minimal discomfort,” Bob Paulson, president and CEO of NxThera, said in a press release.
“The recently published 2-year data from our Rezūm II pivotal study demonstrates sustained and durable symptom relief and preserved sexual function in patients who were treated with the Rezūm System,” he added. “These compelling clinical outcomes from a minimally invasive procedure that can be performed in an office or outpatient setting, provide an efficient and cost-effective BPH treatment option for urologists, patients and health plans.”
That study, “Convective Radio Frequency Water Vapor Thermal Therapy: Durable 2-Year Results of Randomized Controlled and Prospective Crossover Studies for Treatment of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Due to Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia,” appeared in the December 2016 issue of the Journal of Urology.