AAO-HNS Continues Medicare Advocacy Efforts on Payment for PPE

On February 1 the AAO-HNS submitted a comment letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding its interim final policy on coding and payment for personal protective equipment (PPE) and other infection control costs during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). The Academy’s comments reiterated our previous recommendation that CMS immediately implement and separately pay for CPT code 99072. Fair reimbursement for this code is required to recognize physicians’ increased expenses due to infection control practices necessary to care for patients during the ongoing PHE.