Neurosurgery Coding Alert

Question: I am having difficulty getting paid for Marcaine. We use the HCPCS code J3490 (Unclassified drugs), and the insurance either denies the claim or ignores the code. Is this the correct code? New York Subscriber Answer: Payers generally consider injectable supplies such as Marcaine or Lidocaine, when used as local anesthetics, to be incidental to the global allowance for the injection procedure (for example, 90782, Therapeutic, prophylactic or diagnostic injection [specify material injected]; subcutaneous or intramuscular). Therefore, if you use Marcaine as a local anesthetic, the carrier is correct to "ignore" the claim. Therapeutic injectable supplies such as steroids, however, are reimbursable through their specific J code.