MINNEAPOLIS, Feb. 05, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. (NYSE: INSP) (“Inspire”), a medical technology company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative and minimally invasive solutions for patients with obstructive sleep apnea, announced today an additional five Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (“BCBSA”) healthcare plans have issued positive coverage policies of Inspire therapy. These plans include Blue Cross Blue Shield (“BCBS”) of Mississippi, BCBS Regence (“Regence”), Premera Blue Cross (“Premera”), BCBS of Kansas, and BCBS of Massachusetts, which provide coverage for an aggregate of 8.4 million members.

• BCBS of Mississippi covers approximately 590,000 members and took effect January 1, 2019.
• Regence covers approximately 2.6 million members across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Utah and took effect February 1, 2019.   
• Premera is the largest health plan in the Pacific Northwest covering over 2.1 million members in Washington and Alaska and took effect February 1, 2019.
• BCBS of Kansas covers approximately 560,000 members and took effect February 1, 2019.
• BCBS of Massachusetts covers approximately 2.6 million members and will take effect May 1, 2019. 

There have now been eight positive coverage policies issued by BCBSA healthcare plans following BCBSA Evidence Street’s January 7, 2019 report, which stated that there is sufficient evidence to determine that Inspire therapy results in a meaningful improvement in net health outcomes for patients meeting specified criteria.  These eight Inspire therapy coverage policies comprise approximately 16.6 million members, or 17%, of the total 97 million members currently covered under the BCBSA healthcare plans.

“We are very pleased that regional Blue Cross Blue Shield plans continue to establish positive coverage policies for Inspire therapy in such a short time period following the Evidence Street report,” said Tim Herbert, President and Chief Executive Officer of Inspire Medical Systems. “We will continue to work with physicians and medical centers to develop additional positive coverage policies across the 36 BCBS companies in the United States.”

About Inspire Medical Systems

Inspire is a medical technology company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative and minimally invasive solutions for patients with obstructive sleep apnea. Inspire’s proprietary Inspire therapy is the first and only FDA-approved neurostimulation technology that provides a safe and effective treatment for moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea.

For additional information about Inspire, please visit www.inspiresleep.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  All statements other than statements of historical facts are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding the potential impact of Blue Cross Blue Shield’s positive assessment, future positive insurance coverage and adoption of Inspire therapy.  In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as ‘‘may,’’ ‘‘will,’’ ‘‘should,’’ ‘‘expect,’’ ‘‘plan,’’ ‘‘anticipate,’’ ‘‘could,’’ “future,” “outlook,” ‘‘intend,’’ ‘‘target,’’ ‘‘project,’’ ‘‘contemplate,’’ ‘‘believe,’’ ‘‘estimate,’’ ‘‘predict,’’ ‘‘potential,’’ ‘‘continue,’’ or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words.

These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others: estimates regarding the annual total addressable market for our Inspire therapy in the U.S. and our market opportunity outside the U.S., future results of operations, financial position, research and development costs, capital requirements and our needs for additional financing; commercial success and market acceptance of our Inspire therapy; our ability to achieve and maintain adequate levels of coverage or reimbursement for our Inspire system or any future products we may seek to commercialize; competitive companies and technologies in our industry; our ability to expand our indications and develop and commercialize additional products and enhancements to our Inspire system; our business model and strategic plans for our products, technologies and business, including our implementation thereof; our ability to accurately forecast customer demand for our Inspire system and manage our inventory; our ability to expand, manage and maintain our direct sales and marketing organization, and to market and sell our Inspire system in markets outside of the U.S.; our ability to increase the number of active medical centers implanting Inspire therapy; our ability to hire and retain our senior management and other highly qualified personnel; our ability to commercialize or obtain regulatory approvals for our Inspire therapy and system, or the effect of delays in commercializing or obtaining regulatory approvals; FDA or other U.S. or foreign regulatory actions affecting us or the healthcare industry generally, including healthcare reform measures in the U.S. and international markets; and our ability to establish and maintain intellectual property protection for our Inspire therapy and system or avoid claims of infringement. Other important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contemplated in this press release can be found under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our final prospectus filed under Rule 424(b) on December 7, 2018, as such factors may be updated from time to time in our other filings with the SEC, which are accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. These and other important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such forward-looking statements represent management’s estimates as of the date of this press release. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, unless required by applicable law, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change. Thus, one should not assume that our silence over time means that actual events are bearing out as expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

Investor and Media Contact:
Bob Yedid
LifeSci Advisors
[email protected]
646-597-6989