Radiology Coding: Move Your Search For Mra Coverage To The Local Level

By Author: Angela Martin
Total Articles: 206
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Oftentimes one coverage change leads to another. When CMS decided to do away with the phrase "blood flow measurement" from the Nationally Noncovered Indications at 220.2(C)(2) of the National Coverage Determinations (NCD) Manual, the agency announced a decision to review evidence on MRA's non-covered indications too.

Consequence: Recently, CMS announced that local Medicare contractors will be the ones to decide whether to cover magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) services not specifically designated as nationally covered or non-covered.

In a nutshell, the decision states that CMS will merge the NCDs for MRI and MRA. And as part of the merge, CMS will maintain existing national coverage but will eliminate non-coverage language for MRA.

The change in the national MRA policy is huge.

For instance: Earlier, MRA of the chest 71555, Magnetic resonance angiography, chest [excluding myocardium], with or without contrast material[s]) was limited to pulmonary embolism and thoracic aneurysm, and now the local carriers will have jurisdiction.

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