NCD20.21 CHELATION THERAPY FOR TREATMENT OF ATHEROSCLEROSIS

 

 

Effective Date of this Version

 

• This is a longstanding national coverage determination.

• The effective date of this version has not been posted.

 

 

Benefit Category

 

• Incident to a physician's professional Service

• Physicians' Services

• Note: This may not be an exhaustive list of all applicable Medicare benefit categories for this item or service.

 

 

Item/Service Description

 

• Chelation therapy is the application of chelation techniques for the therapeutic or preventive effects of removing unwanted metal ions from the body.

 

 

Indications and Limitations of Coverage

 

• The application of chelation therapy using ethylenediamine-tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) for the treatment and prevention of atherosclerosis is controversial.

o There is no widely accepted rationale to explain the beneficial effects attributed to this therapy.

o Its safety is questioned and its clinical effectiveness has never been established by well designed, controlled clinical trials.

o It is not widely accepted and practiced by American physicians.

o EDTA chelation therapy for atherosclerosis is considered experimental.

o For these reasons, EDTA chelation therapy for the treatment or prevention of atherosclerosis is NOT covered.

• Some practitioners refer to this therapy as chemoendarterectomy and may also show a diagnosis other than atherosclerosis, such as arteriosclerosis or calcinosis.

o Claims employing such variant terms should also be denied under this section.

 

 

Cross Reference

§20.22

 

Medicare NCD Link