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Anesthesia Coding Alert

Reader Question:

Dental Anesthesia

Published on Mon Apr 01, 2002

Question: Which anesthesia codes are accepted for anesthesia during dental procedures such as extractions? We use 00170 (Anesthesia for intraoral procedures, including biopsy; not otherwise specified) but cannot get Medicaid to pay for it.

Vermont Subscriber  
Answer: Refusing payment for 00170 may be an individual state Medicaid rule; California, for example, will pay for it. If your Medicaid carrier wont, one option is to use 41899 (Unlisted procedure, dentoalveolar structures) and include a copy of the operative report. HCPCS code D9220 (General anesthesia first 30 minutes) is accepted by some Medicaid carriers. Ask your local carrier for its dental anesthesia policy.
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