Evernorth is removing the prior authorization requirement for contracted providers offering transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) services to Evernorth and Cigna members.
TMS services are quickly gaining in popularity for treating major depressive disorder (MDD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Still, most insurance companies require prior authorization and a history of failed treatment.
Taking away the prior authorization requirement could expand access to services.
“Evernorth’s decision to eliminate the requirement for contracted providers to have patients obtain prior authorizations for TMS treatment marks an important step forward in expanding patient access to this effective and well-accepted therapy. This change empowers providers to deliver timely care to patients who meet Evernorth’s TMS policy selection criteria,” Hadar Levy, CEO at BrainsWay, said in a statement about the news.
BrainsWay is a medical device company that offers FDA-cleared TMS technology.
Over the last two years, more payers have begun to cover TMS and have loosened restrictions on the services. For example, in 2024, Health Care Service Corporation added TMS coverage for adolescents as a first-line treatment. Additionally, in January of 2024, BrainsWay announced that Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield would expand coverage of its TMS treatment to include patients ages 15 and older.
“There’s no question the direction of travel here is irreversibly favorable,” Brian Wheelan, CEO of Transformations Care Network, previously told BHB. “I think we only have one or two payers out of 100 right now where you still have to do four drugs [before starting TMS]. … What we’re seeing is a very clear direction of travel here that is widening the aperture for the use of TMS — not as a first-line treatment, but not as a ‘there’s-no-hope’ treatment.”
While more providers are adopting TMS as a service line expansion, some TMS companies have struggled. For example, Toronto-based Greenbrook TMS Inc. (Nasdaq: GBNH), which provides TMS and Spravato services, was delisted from the Nasdaq Stock Market in February of 2024. Greenbrook was later acquired by fellow TMS provider Neuronetics.
Investors have also taken note of the uptick in TMS services and of payers’ interest in them.
At the end of 2025, Radial raised $50 million in a Series A funding round led by General Catalyst to expand its interventional psychiatry services, including TMS.