Part B Insider (Multispecialty) Coding Alert
Medicare Won't Pay For New Intracranial Procedure Codes
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Bad news: New intracranial surgery codes 61630-61642 have zero RVUs in the new Fee Schedule , meaning Medicare won't pay for them. CMS must believe these procedures are still experimental, says Jeff Fulkerson with Emory Healthcare in Atlanta.
These codes represent new technologies including microcatheters for intracranial vessels, explains Patrick Cafferty, president and CEO of Neurosurgical Associates of Western Kentucky in Paducah. These cutting-edge technologies help to treat atherosclerotic strictures seen on cerebral angiography, and vasospasm as seen in subarachnoid hemorrhage.
"At least there's a code that it can be billed out under," Fulkerson says. "Eventually you know the carriers are going to have to come around to the fact that we've been doing these for years and it's working and you need to start paying for it."
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