Premera Blue Cross · Identified Jun 16, 2026Medium impact
Medical Policy and Coding Updates - October 2024
Effective January 3, 2025, Premera HMO medical necessity criteria for Dupixent (dupilumab) in moderate to severe asthma were updated, requiring two or more asthma exacerbations in the previous 12 months requiring oral corticosteroids, or one or more exacerbations requiring hospitalization, an emergency department visit, or an urgent care visit, or forced expiratory volume in 1 second of less than 80% predicted, with a blood eosinophil count greater than 300 cells/mcL. The same effective date added Humira (adalimumab) criteria for psoriatic arthritis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, uveitis, sarcoidosis and pyoderma gangrenosum, moved Inflectra (infliximab-dyyb) to a first-line TNF-alpha antagonist option for several indications, and removed Hyrimoz (adalimumab-adaz) from first-line options. A new Shoulder Arthroplasty policy (7.01.590) with medical necessity criteria for total, reverse, hemi, and revision shoulder arthroplasty is also listed under the January 3, 2025 effective date, and Restasis (cyclosporine ophthalmic emulsion) was added for dry eye disease in individuals aged 18 years and older effective October 1, 2024.