On Oct. 11, CMS issued a final National Coverage Decision (NCD) decision memo on Carotid Artery Stenting that agrees with the position raised by neurosurgery in an Aug. 4 letter to the agency. Specifically, the updated policy would:
- Expand coverage to individuals previously only eligible for coverage in clinical trials;
- Expand coverage to standard surgical risk individuals by removing the limitation of coverage to only high surgical risk individuals;
- Remove facility standards and approval requirements;
- Add formal shared decision-making documentation with the individual before furnishing CAS; and
- Allow Medicare Administrative Contractors discretion for all other coverage of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty of the carotid artery concurrent with stenting not otherwise addressed in the NCD.
