US · guidance
NCD 160.16
Vertebral Axial Decompression (VAX-D)
Item/Service Description
Vertebral axial decompression is performed for symptomatic relief of pain associated with lumbar disk problems. The treatment combines pelvic and/or cervical traction connected to a special table that permits the traction application.
Indications and Limitations of Coverage
There is insufficient scientific data to support the benefits of this technique. Therefore, VAX-D is not covered by Medicare.
Revision History
3/1997 - Provided that VAX-D not covered by Medicare. Effective date 4/15/1997. (TN 93)
History
Version 1
Provenance
- Source
- cms.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-08-26
- Edition
- mcd-2026-08-26
- Content hash
50b88e69660857f8eb897beeb56621510029cdf6580709ea51f38b3d518b5fa5
The link goes to the issuing authority’s own document — the one we read to produce this record. Where a source publishes whole titles rather than sections, your browser may need a moment to jump to the provision.
Unofficial copy of government-published law, reproduced from official sources with full provenance. Not an official publication; verify against official sources before relying on it in a filing. Records in the 'guidance' corpus, and only that corpus, are sub-regulatory (interpretive guidelines, survey procedures) and are not binding law. Validity bounds follow each jurisdiction's declared temporalBasis.