In a short, open-ended statement, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) said it would not discontinue a pair of miscellaneous HCPCS codes in January, as previously announced.
But the agency did not indicate what its next steps or its timetable would be.
This summer, CMS said it would be changing the E1399 and K0108 codes for miscellaneous DME and miscellaneous wheelchair components and accessories, respectively.
In place of those codes, CMS wanted to implement six codes: two involving repairs, two for inexpensive DME or wheelchair components/accessories, and two for DME or wheelchair components/accessories with purchase prices of more than $150 each. CMS intended to purchase outright the inexpensive items, and to pay for items costing $150 or more on a capped-rental basis. Repair parts would have been purchased.
In informing stakeholders of CMS’s reversal of course, NCART Executive Director Don Clayback said in an Oct. 6 bulletin, “As reported during the summer, NCART and other organizations submitted comments back in July expressing concerns with the proposed plans and asking for needed changes before implementation. We continue to communicate with CMS staff on this issue working towards modifying their proposed changes to avoid creating access problems for CRT items.”
The CMS statement as forwarded by Clayback read, “We appreciate the comments received on the proposed coding changes below and will continue to consider the issue further. The changes described below will not take effect on January 1, 2016. Additional information will be provided on the status of these coding changes in the future.”
