local coverage determinations

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On February 28, 2023, six of the seven Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs), who administer Medicare reimbursement on behalf of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), came together for a multijurisdictional contractor advisory committee (CAC) meeting. The purpose of the CAC meeting was to discuss remote physiologic monitoring (RPM) and remote therapeutic monitoring (RTM) for non-implantable devices. Specifically, the MACs were looking to determine whether a local coverage determination (LCD) should be developed to guide those performing remote patient monitoring and utilizing these billing codes.  

The public was permitted to submit written comments and responses to a set of specific discussion questions through March 10, 2023. The questions covered a range of issues including the advantages of RPM/RTM in a clinical setting and the use of third-party vendors in the provision of RPM/RTM services.

Importantly, if any MAC decides to develop an LCD after the CAC, the LCD will be published both on the MAC’s webpage and on the Medicare Coverage Database. The LCD will then go through a public comment period and other administrative hurdles before it can be finalized as policy. To date, there have been no established Medicare coverage policies for remote monitoring services. Continue Reading MACs Consider Guidance on Remote Patient Monitoring Amid Exploding Utilization

In an effort to “modernize the Medicare program and bring the latest technologies and innovations to Medicare beneficiaries,” CMS has announced revisions to the local coverage determination (LCD) process.  Specifically, under authority provided in the 21st Century Cures Act and taking into account stakeholder feedback, CMS has issued Program Integrity Manual (PIM) changes intended…

Included in the 21st Century Cures Act are numerous changes to Medicare and Medicaid policies, including provisions with significant reimbursement impacts for certain types of Medicare providers and suppliers, along with changes intended to reduce the regulatory and administrative burdens associated with the use of electronic health records.  Furthermore, the law once again expands the…

The OIG has issued a report entitled “MACs Continue to Use Different Methods to Determine Drug Coverage,” which reviews how Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) make Medicare Part B drug coverage determinations and ensure that claims are paid according to these determinations. Based on the results of a survey of MACs regarding 2012 Part…

On June 3, 2015, the Senate Finance Committee approved by voice vote a bipartisan proposal to reform the Medicare audit and appeals process in an attempt to help ease the backlog of Medicare appeals and promote efficiency and transparency. The draft proposal, the “Audit & Appeal Fairness, Integrity, and Reforms in Medicare Act of 2015,” would, among other things:Continue Reading Senate Finance Committee Approves Medicare Appeals Reform Proposal

Yesterday CMS posted a Final Decision Memorandum for the Expedited Removal of National Coverage Determinations (NCDs).  By way of background, in an August 7, 2013 Federal Register notice (78 FR 48164), CMS established an expedited process for removing NCDs under certain circumstances, such as when they are no longer contain clinically pertinent or when the items or services are used infrequently by beneficiaries. Removal of an NCD does not necessarily result in noncoverage; instead, it allows the local Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) to determine coverage.

CMS reviewed NCDs that have not been reviewed in 10 years in order to evaluate the continued need for those policies to remain active on a national scale, and on November 27, 2013 CMS published for public comment the first list of NCDs proposed for removal. After review of public comments, CMS is now removing the following NCDs from the NCD Manual, effective December 18, 2014:Continue Reading CMS Removes Seven Medicare National Coverage Determinations, Leaving Coverage to MACs

The Senate Aging Committee has released a staff report entitled “Improving Audits: How We Can Strengthen the Medicare Program for Future Generations.”  The report describes the burden audits can impose on providers, and raises concerns that CMS’s current efforts are “aimed more at identifying and recovering improper payments that have already occurred, rather…