New influenza vaccine code delayed until Jan. 1

If you are dispensing influenza vaccines under a new CPT code this fall, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is suggesting that you do not send those claims in for payment right away.

This summer, CMS was scheduled to accept a new CPT code for influenza vaccine. The code, 90674, describes “Influenza virus vaccine, quadrivalent (ccIIV4), derived from cell cultures, subunit, preservative and antibiotic free, 0.5 mL dosage, for intramuscular use.” The CPT Editorial Panel accepted the code at its February meeting, and it will appear in the 2017 CPT book. CMS previously disclosed a payment allowance of $22.936 for code 90674, beginning for services provided on or after Aug. 1.

But CMS recently announced that Medicare claims processing systems will not be able to accept code 90674 until Jan. 1.

In the meantime, CMS advises that you hold claims containing that code until then. Also, if you bill institutional claims, CMS says that code 90674 will be implemented on Feb. 20.

– Kent Moore, Senior Strategist for Physician Payment for the American Academy of Family Physicians

Posted on Nov 15, 2016 by David Twiddy