Phototherapy for Psychiatric Disorders (CPB 0370, reviewed 2026-05-26)
Aetna considers a high-intensity light unit for light box therapy medically necessary durable medical equipment for seasonal affective disorder only when the member has bipolar disorder or recurrent major depression and meets DSM-V criteria for a seasonal mood disorder. Those criteria are at least 2 years of seasonal depressive episodes that completely remit when daylight increases in the spring and that substantially outnumber any non-seasonal depressive episodes. When criteria are met, the first month of rental of the high-intensity light unit is covered to see whether home phototherapy relieves the member's depression. Light box therapy is experimental, investigational, or unproven for depressive symptoms in several other populations, including nonseasonal depression, perinatal depression, Parkinson disease, cystic fibrosis, type 2 diabetes, and dementia. Phototherapy for post-stroke depression is also listed as experimental.