Home Oxygen Therapy and Equipment for Lung Disease and Hypoxia
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MEDICAL POLICY Temporary Policy Emergency Provisions for: Home Oxygen Therapy and Equipment for Lung Disease or Hypoxia (All Lines of Business Except Medicare) Effective Date: 6/1/2021 Medical Policy Number: 88 Technology Assessment Committee Approved Date: 7/07 Medical Policy Committee Approved Date: 8/95; 10/97; 9/98; 7/99; 8/00; 9/01; 10/02; 2/03; 3/04; 6/1/2021 3/05; 3/07; 3/08; 3/10; 8/10; 5/11; 4/13; 9/13; 10/14; Medical Officer Date 10/15; 1/16; 3/17; 3/18; 12/18; 5/19; 2/2020; 3/2021 See Policy CPT/HCPCS CODE section below for any prior authorization requirements NEED AND DURATION OF EMERGENCY PROVISIONS 1. Need for the temporary Provisions: COVID-19 public health emergency 2. Documents or source relied upon: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released “Physicians and Other Clinicians: CMS Flexibilities to Fight COVID-19 3. Initial Effective Date: 3/1/2020 4. Re-review dates: 5/27/2020; 7/22/2020; 9/23/2020; 11/30/2020; 2/3/2021; 3/31/2021; 6/1/2021 5. Termination Date: 12/31/2021 6. Reassessment Date determined at Companies sole discretion: 12/30/2021 POLICY ADDENDUM COVID-19 Public Health Emergency On March 30th, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released “Physicians and Other Clinicians: CMS Flexibilities to Fight COVID-19”, which states: National Coverage Determinations (NCDs) and Local Coverage Determinations (LCDs) on Respiratory Related Devices, Oxygen and Oxygen Equipment, Home Infusion Pumps and Home Anticoagulation Therapy: Clinicians now have maximum flexibility in determining patient needs for respiratory related devices and equipment and the flexibility for more patients to manage their treatments at the home. The current NCDs and LCDs that restrict coverage of these devices and services to patients with certain clinical characteristics do not apply during the public health emergency. For example, Medicare will cover non-invasive ventilators, respiratory assist devices and continuous positive airway pressure devices based on the clinician’s assessment of the patient. Page 1 of 11 MP88 MEDICAL POLICY Home Oxygen Therapy and Equipment for Lung Disease or Hypoxia (All Lines of Business Except Medicare) Therefore, beginning 3/30/2020, the Medicare Guidelines below do not apply during this public health emergency. During this time, the DME addressed in this medical policy will be covered based on the clinician’s assessment of the patient. SCOPE: Providence Health Plan, Providence Health Assurance, Providence Plan Partners, and Ayin Health Solutions as applicable (referred to individually as “Company” and collectively as “Companies”). APPLIES TO: All lines of business except Medicare BENEFIT APPLICATION Medicaid Members Oregon: Services requested for Oregon Health Plan (OHP) members follow the OHP Prioritized List and Oregon Administrative Rules (OARs) as the primary resource for coverage determinations. Medical policy criteria below may be applied when there are no criteria available in the OARs and the OHP Prioritized List. POLICY CRITERIA Note: This policy does not address home oxygen therapy and oxygen equipment in patients under 18 years of age. This policy is based on the following Centers for Medicare & Medicaid guidelines: • National Coverage Determination (NCD) 240.2: Home Use of Oxygen1 • Local Coverage Determination (LCD) L33797: Oxygen and Oxygen Equipment2 • Local Coverage Article (LCA) A52514: Oxygen and Oxygen Equipment3 Home Oxygen Therapy I. Home oxygen therapy and oxygen equipment for severe lung disease or hypoxia-related symptoms may be considered medically necessary and covered if the following conditions are met (I.A-E): A. The treating practitioner has determined that the member has a severe lung disease or hypoxia-related symptoms that might be expected to improve with oxygen therapy; and Page 2 of 11 MP88 MEDICAL POLICY Home Oxygen Therapy and Equipment for Lung Disease or Hypoxia (All Lines of Business Except Medicare) B. The member meets the standards of a qualified blood gas study (for definition of qualifying blood gas study, see the Policy Guidelines section), measured through either an oximetry test or an arterial blood gas test; and C. The qualifying blood gas test was performed by a treating practitioner or by a qualified provider or supplier of laboratory services; and D. The qualifying blood gas study was obtained under the following conditions: 1. If the qualifying blood gas study is performed during an inpatient hospital stay, the reported test must be the one obtained closest to, but no earlier than 2 days prior to the hospital discharge date, or 2. If the qualifying blood gas study is not performed during an inpatient hospital stay, the reported test must be performed while the beneficiary is in a chronic stable state – i.e., not during a period of acute illness or an exacerbation of their underlying disease, and E. Alternative treatment measures have been tried or considered and deemed clinically ineffective. II. Home oxygen therapy and oxygen equipment for severe lung disease or hypoxia-related symptoms is considered not medically necessary and not covered when criterion I above is not met. Portable Oxygen Systems III. A portable oxygen system may be considered medically necessary and covered if the member is mobile within the home and the qualifying blood gas study was performed while at rest (awake) or during exercise. IV. Portable oxygen is considered not medically necessary and not covered If the only qualifying blood gas study was performed during sleep. NON-COVERAGE CRITERIA V. Group III includes beneficiaries with arterial PO 2 levels at or above 60 mm Hg or arterial blood oxygen saturations at or above 90 percent. For these beneficiaries there is a rebuttable presumption of non-coverage. VI. If the coverage conditions specified above are not met, the oxygen therapy will be denied as not reasonable and necessary. Oxygen therapy will also be denied as not reasonable and necessary if any of the following conditions are present (VI.1-4): A. Angina pectoris in the absence of hypoxemia. This condition is generally not the result of a low oxygen level in the blood and there are other preferred treatments. B. Dyspnea without cor pulmonale or evidence of hypoxemia Page 3 of 11 MP88 MEDICAL POLICY Home Oxygen Therapy and Equipment for Lung Disease or Hypoxia (All Lines of Business Except Medicare) C. Severe peripheral vascular disease resulting in clinically evident desaturation in one or more extremities but in the absence of systemic hypoxemia. There is no evidence that increased PO 2 will improve the oxygenation of tissues with impaired circulation. D. Terminal illnesses that do not affect the respiratory system VII. Emergency or stand-by oxygen systems for members who are not regularly using oxygen are considered not medically necessary and are not covered since they are precautionary and not therapeutic in nature. VIII. Topical hyperbaric oxygen chambers (A4575) are considered not medically necessary and are not covered. IX. Topical oxygen delivery systems (E0446) are considered not medically necessary and are not covered. POLICY GUIDELINES Standards for qualifying blood gas study: A qualifying blood bag study can be defined in two ways, through Group I or Group II criteria: Group I criteria include any of the following: • An arterial PO2 at or below 55 mm Hg or an arterial oxygen saturation at or below 88 percent taken at rest (awake), or • An arterial PO2 at or below 55 mm Hg, or an arterial oxygen saturation at or below 88 percent, for at least 5 minutes taken during sleep for a beneficiary who demonstrates an arterial PO2 at or above 56 mm Hg or an arterial oxygen saturation at or above 89 percent while awake, or • A decrease in arterial PO2 more than 10 mm Hg, or a decrease in arterial oxygen saturation more than 5 percent from baseline saturation, for at least 5 minutes taken during sleep associated with symptoms (e.g., impairment of cognitive processes and [nocturnal restlessness or insomnia]) or signs (e.g., cor pulmonale, "P" pulmonale on EKG, documented pulmonary hypertension and erythrocytosis) reasonably attributable to hypoxemia, or • An arterial PO2 at or below 55 mm Hg or an arterial oxygen saturation at or below 88 percent, taken during exercise for a beneficiary who demonstrates an arterial PO2 at or above 56 mm Hg or an arterial oxygen saturation at or above 89 percent during the day while at rest. In this case, oxygen is provided for during exercise if it is documented that the use of oxygen improves the hypoxemia that was demonstrated during exercise when the beneficiary was breathing room air. Page 4 of 11 MP88 MEDICAL POLICY Home Oxygen Therapy and Equipment for Lung Disease or Hypoxia (All Lines of Business Except Medicare) Initial coverage for beneficiaries meeting Group I criteria is limited to 12 months or the treating practitioner-specified length of need, whichever is shorter. Group II criteria include the presence of: • An arterial PO2 of 56-59 mm Hg or an arterial blood oxygen saturation of 89 percent at rest (awake), during sleep for at least 5 minutes, or during exercise (as described under Group I criteria), and any of the following: o Dependent edema suggesting congestive heart failure, or o Pulmonary hypertension or cor pulmonale, determined by measurement of pulmonary artery pressure, gated blood pool scan, echocardiogram, or "P" pulmonale on EKG (P wave greater than 3 mm in standard leads II, III, or AVF), or o Erythrocythemia with a hematocrit greater than 56 percent. Initial coverage for beneficiaries meeting Group II criteria is limited to 3 months or the treating practitioner specified length of need, whichever is shorter. BILLING GUIDELINES A maximum of 3 months of oxygen may be delivered at any one time. Initial 36 Months Reimbursement for oxygen equipment is limited to 36 monthly rental payments.