Novamind Secures Coverage from 4 Insurers for IV Ketamine Treatment

Novamind this week announced that it has obtained approval for direct billing of IV ketamine for treatment-resistant depression from 4 major health insurers: Blue Cross Blue Shield, University of Utah, PEHP Health & Benefits, and MBA Benefit Administrators.

Novamind, a Toronto-based mental health company with a network of clinics and clinical research sites, provides ketamine-assisted psychotherapy at its Cedar Psychiatry clinics. The company has also opened a call center that specializes in insurance benefit verification and prior authorizations, as for many medical and prescription drug plans, prior authorization is required for the administration of certain treatments, including IV ketamine for depression.

“This initial success with insurance coverage of ketamine is promising for the future of psychiatry because it sends a strong signal that payors are interested in more effective treatments for mental health conditions as supporting research emerges,” said Reid Robison, MD, MBA, Novamind chief medical officer, said in a news release. “For ketamine therapy to reach the masses, many more insurance companies will need to adjust their coverage policies. I look forward to further informing these decisions by soon publishing the results of real-world evidence studies and hosting upcoming clinical trials examining the use of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.”