CMS doesn't want to foot this $500,000 bill
It looks as if CMS is going to make the ban on BBBD chemo payment official.
CMS released a proposed National Coverage Determination stating that -The use of osmotic blood brain barrier disruption is not reasonable and necessary when it is used as part of a treatment regimen for brain tumors,- available online at
www.cms.hhs.gov/mcd/viewdraftdecisionmemo.asp?id=188.
Good news: The decision won't alter existing anticancer chemotherapy coverage.
You can view the tracking sheet at
www.cms.hhs.gov/mcd/viewtrackingsheet.asp?id=188 or read more in the September 2006 issue of Oncology Coding Alert.