CMS Coding and Reimbursement Update

Every five years, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) allows specialty societies to submit a list of procedures they believe to be most undervalued in the Medicare Resource-Based Relative Value System. For the five-year review that will be implemented in the 2007 Medicare Fee Schedule, SVS submitted: open AAA repairs (35081 and 35102), thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm repair (33877), lower extremity bypass grafts constructed with vein (35556, 35566, 35583, 35585), two lower extremity amputations (27880 and 28805), and 30 other less frequently performed services. Most of these procedures received a favorable review by the AMA/Specialty Society Relative Value Update Committee. CMS will make the final decision regarding revaluation, and any changes in work RVUs will appear in the 2007 Physicians Fee Schedule.Below is the complete list of the codes SVS submitted to the five-year process as "undervalued."

27880 Lower leg amputation with AAOS

28805 Amputation thru metatarsal with APMA

33877 Thoracoabdominal graft

34001 Removal of artery clot

34201 Removal of artery clot

34471 Removal of vein clot

35081 Repair defect of artery

35102 Repair defect of artery

35216 Repair blood vessel lesi

35381 Rechanneling of artery

35501 Artery bypass graft

35506 Artery bypass graft

35507 Artery bypass graft

35508 Artery bypass graft

35509 Artery bypass graft

35515 Artery bypass graft

35516 Artery bypass graft

35541 Artery bypass graft

35546 Artery bypass graft

35556 Artery bypass graft

35566 Artery bypass graft

35583 Vein bypass graft

35585 Vein bypass graft

35601 Artery bypass graft

35606 Artery bypass graft

35612 Artery bypass graft

35616 Artery bypass graft

35641 Artery bypass graft

35642 Artery bypass graft

37720 Removal of leg vein

60600 Remove carotid body lesion

60605 Remove carotid body lesion.