Blue Cross & Blue Shield of MississippiAll Plans · Coverage · Medical Policy · OrthopedicsMedium impact
Implantable Shock Absorbers for Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis
Effective date
Not stated in the notice
Identified
Aug 22, 2026
Summary
This new medical policy, added 08/15/2026 and approved by the Medical Policy Advisory Committee, considers the use of implantable shock absorbers as a treatment for knee osteoarthritis to be investigational. A treatment that is investigational is not considered medically necessary, because it is not yet recognized as a generally accepted standard of good medical practice for the condition being treated. The MISHA Knee System (Moximed) is the first and currently only FDA-authorized implantable shock absorber for this indication, cleared under De Novo DEN220033 in 2023 for medial compartment knee OA in patients who failed nonsurgical or surgical treatment and are ineligible for or unwilling to undergo joint replacement.
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01Billing team: do not bill implantable shock absorbers for knee osteoarthritis as medically necessary, because the policy considers this treatment investigational.
02Federal Employee Program (FEP) members are the exception: FEP may dictate that FDA-approved devices may not be considered investigational, so those devices may be assessed only on the basis of medical necessity.
03Check each member's specific benefit plan language, because the coverage guidelines in the medical policy should not be used in place of that language.
Codes mentioned
C1734
Original notice
Implantable Shock Absorbers for Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis
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