Local Coverage Determination (LCD)

Hospice The Adult Failure To Thrive Syndrome

L34558

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Proposed LCD
Proposed LCDs are works in progress that are available on the Medicare Coverage Database site for public review. Proposed LCDs are not necessarily a reflection of the current policies or practices of the contractor.

Document Note

Note History

Contractor Information

LCD Information

Document Information

Source LCD ID
N/A
LCD ID
L34558
Original ICD-9 LCD ID
Not Applicable
LCD Title
Hospice The Adult Failure To Thrive Syndrome
Proposed LCD in Comment Period
N/A
Source Proposed LCD
N/A
Original Effective Date
For services performed on or after 10/01/2015
Revision Effective Date
For services performed on or after 01/04/2024
Revision Ending Date
N/A
Retirement Date
N/A
Notice Period Start Date
N/A
Notice Period End Date
N/A
AMA CPT / ADA CDT / AHA NUBC Copyright Statement

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Fee schedules, relative value units, conversion factors and/or related components are not assigned by the AMA, are not part of CPT, and the AMA is not recommending their use. The AMA does not directly or indirectly practice medicine or dispense medical services. The AMA assumes no liability for data contained or not contained herein.

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Making copies or utilizing the content of the UB‐04 Manual, including the codes and/or descriptions, for internal purposes, resale and/or to be used in any product or publication; creating any modified or derivative work of the UB‐04 Manual and/or codes and descriptions; and/or making any commercial use of UB‐04 Manual or any portion thereof, including the codes and/or descriptions, is only authorized with an express license from the American Hospital Association. The American Hospital Association (the "AHA") has not reviewed, and is not responsible for, the completeness or accuracy of any information contained in this material, nor was the AHA or any of its affiliates, involved in the preparation of this material, or the analysis of information provided in the material. The views and/or positions presented in the material do not necessarily represent the views of the AHA. CMS and its products and services are not endorsed by the AHA or any of its affiliates.

Issue

Issue Description

This LCD outlines limited coverage for this service with specific details under Coverage Indications, Limitations and/or Medical Necessity.

Issue - Explanation of Change Between Proposed LCD and Final LCD

CMS National Coverage Policy

Title XVIII of the Social Security Act, §1861(dd) states the term "hospice care" means the services provided to a terminally ill individual.

Title XVIII of the Social Security Act, §1862(a)(1)(A) allows coverage and payment for only those services that are considered to be reasonable and necessary for the diagnosis or treatment of illness or injury or to improve the functioning of a malformed body member.

Title XVIII of the Social Security Act, §1862(a)(6) addresses items and services which constitute personal comfort items (except, in the case of hospice care, as is otherwise permitted).

Title XVIII of the Social Security Act, §1862(a)(9) addresses items and services where such expenses are for custodial care (except in the case of hospice care, as is otherwise permitted).

Title XVIII of the Social Security Act, §1812(a)(4) states in lieu of certain benefits, hospice care with respect to the individual during up to 2 periods of 90 days each with an unlimited number of subsequent periods of 60 days each with respect to which the individual makes an election.

Title XVIII of the Social Security Act, §1813(a)(4) addresses drugs and biologicals provided in a hospice program.

Title XVIII of the Social Security Act, §1814(a)(7) addresses certifying the patient for hospice.

42 CFR Part 418 Hospice Care

CMS Internet-Only Manual, Pub. 100-01, Medicare General Information, Eligibility, and Entitlement Manual, Chapter 4, §60 Certification and Recertification by Physicians for Hospice Care

CMS Internet-Only Manual, Pub. 100-02, Medicare Benefit Policy Manual, Chapter 9, §10 Requirements - General, §20.1 Timing and Content of Certification, §20.2.1 Hospice Election, §30 Coinsurance, §40 Benefit Coverage, §50 Limitation on Liability for Certain Hospice Coverage Denials, §60 Provision of Hospice Services to Medicare/Veteran's Eligible Beneficiaries, §70 Hospice Contracts with an Entity for Services not Considered Hospice Services, and §80 Hospice Pre-Election Evaluation and Counseling Services.

Coverage Guidance

Coverage Indications, Limitations, and/or Medical Necessity

The adult failure to thrive (FTT) syndrome is characterized by unexplained weight loss, malnutrition and disability. The syndrome has been associated with multiple primary conditions (e.g., infections and malignancies), but always includes 2 defining clinical elements, namely nutritional impairment and disability. The nutritional impairment and disability associated with the adult FTT syndrome may be severe enough to have an impact on the patient’s short-term survival.

The adult FTT syndrome may manifest as an irreversible progression in the patient’s nutritional impairment/disability despite a trial of therapy (i.e., treatment intended to affect the primary condition responsible for the patient’s clinical presentation). The presence of comorbid conditions may hasten the patient’s clinical progression and as such should be identified and addressed. This hospice policy addresses those cases where reversible causes of severe nutritional impairment and disability (i.e., the adult FTT syndrome) have been excluded.

The Medicare hospice benefit is predicated upon physician-certification that an individual entitled to Part A of Medicare is terminally ill. An individual is considered to be terminally ill if the individual has a medical prognosis that his or her life expectancy is 6 months or less if the terminal illness runs its normal course. The medical criteria listed below would support a terminal prognosis for individuals with the adult FTT syndrome. Medical criteria 1 and 2 are important indicators of nutritional and functional status respectively, and would thus, support a terminal prognosis if met.

1. The nutritional impairment associated with the adult FTT syndrome should be severe enough to impact a beneficiary's weight. It is expected that the body mass index (BMI) of beneficiaries electing the Medicare hospice benefit for the adult FTT syndrome will be below 22 kg/m2 and that the patient is either declining enteral/parenteral nutritional support or has not responded to such nutritional support, despite an adequate caloric intake.

           BMI (kg/m 2)=703 x (weight in pounds) divided by (height in inches) 2

2. The disability associated with the adult FTT syndrome should be such that the individual is significantly disabled. Significant disability would be demonstrated by a Karnofsky or Palliative Performance Scale value less than or equal to 40%.

Both the beneficiary's BMI and level of disability should be determined using measurements/observations made within 6 months (180 days) of the most recent certification/recertification date. If enteral nutritional support has been instituted prior to the election of the Hospice Medicare Benefit and will be continued, the BMI and level of disability should be determined using measurements/observations made at the time of the initial certification and at each subsequent recertification.

At the time of recertification, recumbent measurement(s) (anthropometry) such as mid-arm muscle area in cm 2 may be substituted for BMI with documentation as to why a BMI could not be measured. This information will be subject to review on a case-by-case basis.

In the event a beneficiary presenting with a nutritional impairment and disability does not meet the medical criteria listed above but is still thought to be eligible for the Medicare Hospice Benefit, an alternate diagnosis that best describes the clinical circumstances of the individual beneficiary should be selected.

Summary of Evidence

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Analysis of Evidence (Rationale for Determination)

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Proposed Process Information

Synopsis of Changes
Changes Fields Changed
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Associated Information
Sources of Information
Bibliography
Open Meetings
Meeting Date Meeting States Meeting Information
N/A
Contractor Advisory Committee (CAC) Meetings
Meeting Date Meeting States Meeting Information
N/A
MAC Meeting Information URLs
N/A
Proposed LCD Posting Date
Comment Period Start Date
Comment Period End Date
Reason for Proposed LCD
Requestor Information
This request was MAC initiated.
Requestor Name Requestor Letter
N/A
Contact for Comments on Proposed LCD

Coding Information

Bill Type Codes

Code Description
N/A

Revenue Codes

Code Description
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CPT/HCPCS Codes

Group 1

Group 1 Paragraph

N/A

Group 1 Codes

N/A

N/A

ICD-10-CM Codes that Support Medical Necessity

Group 1

Group 1 Paragraph:

N/A

Group 1 Codes:

N/A

N/A

ICD-10-CM Codes that DO NOT Support Medical Necessity

Group 1

Group 1 Paragraph:

N/A

Group 1 Codes:

N/A

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Additional ICD-10 Information

General Information

Associated Information

Documentation Requirements

1. Documentation supporting medical necessity should be legible, maintained in the patient’s medical record, and must be made available to the A/B HHH MAC upon request.

2. Documentation certifying terminal status must contain sufficient information to confirm terminal status upon review. Documentation meeting the criteria outlined in the Coverage Indications, Limitations and/or Medical Necessity section of this policy would support this requirement.

3. While data collection instruments such as checklists may facilitate the evaluation of nutritional impairments and disability at the time of certification/recertification, the medical record should substantiate the degree of nutritional impairment/disability noted on such instruments.

4. A current BMI determined using the beneficiary's height and weight measured:

A. within 6 months (180 days) of the most recent certification/recertification date for beneficiaries without enteral nutritional support; or,

B. at the time of initial certification and at each subsequent recertification for beneficiaries receiving enteral nutritional support.

5. If recumbent anthropometry is substituted for BMI at recertification, the rationale should be documented.

6. A current evaluation of the beneficiary's functional status demonstrating a level of disability equivalent to that described by a Karnofsky or Palliative Performance Scale value of less than or equal to 40%, determined:

A. within a 6-month period (180 days) from the most recent certification/recertification date for beneficiaries with enteral nutritional support; or,

B. at the time of initial certification and at each subsequent recertification for beneficiaries receiving enteral nutritional support.

Sources of Information
N/A
Bibliography

Anderson F, Downing GM, Hill J, Casorso L, Lerch N. Palliative performance scale (PPS): A new tool. J Palliat Care. 1996;12(1):5-11.

Fried LP, Walston J. Frailty and failure to thrive. In: Hazzard WR, Blass JP, Ettinger WH, Halter JB, Ouslander JG, eds. Principles of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology. 4th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies; 1999:1387-1402.

Karnofsky DA, Burchenal JH. The clinical evaluation of chemotherapeutic agents in cancer. In: MacLeod CM, ed. Evaluation of Chemotherapeutic Agents. 1st ed. New York, NY: Columbia University Press; 1949:191-205.

Verdery RB. Clinical evaluation of failure to thrive in older people. Clin Geriatr Med. 1997;13(4):769-778.

Revision History Information

Revision History Date Revision History Number Revision History Explanation Reasons for Change
01/04/2024 R15

Under CMS National Coverage Policy updated section headings and regulation descriptions. Under Bibliography changes were made to citations to reflect AMA citation guidelines. Formatting and punctuation errors were corrected throughout.

  • Provider Education/Guidance
11/11/2021 R14

Under CMS National Coverage Policy updated regulation descriptions and section headings.

This revision is effective on 11/11/21.

 

  • Provider Education/Guidance
12/03/2020 R13

Under CMS National Coverage Policy added section headings to the regulations. Typographical errors were corrected throughout the LCD.

At this time 21st Century Cures Act will apply to new and revised LCDs that restrict coverage which requires comment and notice. This revision is not a restriction to the coverage determination; and, therefore not all the fields included on the LCD are applicable as noted in this policy.

  • Provider Education/Guidance
10/24/2019 R12

This LCD is being revised in order to adhere to CMS requirements per chapter 13, section 13.5.1 of the Program Integrity Manual, to remove all coding from LCDs. There has been no change in coverage with this LCD revision. Regulations regarding billing and coding were removed from the CMS National Coverage Policy section of this LCD and placed in the related Billing and Coding: Hospice The Adult Failure To Thrive Syndrome A56679 article. 

At this time 21st Century Cures Act will apply to new and revised LCDs that restrict coverage which requires comment and notice. This revision is not a restriction to the coverage determination; and, therefore not all the fields included on the LCD are applicable as noted in this policy.

  • Provider Education/Guidance
07/04/2019 R11

All coding located in the Coding Information section has been moved into the related Billing and Coding: Hospice The Adult Failure To Thrive Syndrome A56679 article and removed from the LCD. 

All verbiage regarding billing and coding under the Associated Information section has been removed and is included in the related Billing and Coding: Hospice The Adult Failure To Thrive Syndrome A56679 article. Formatting, punctuation and typographical errors were corrected throughout the LCD. 

At this time 21st Century Cures Act will apply to new and revised LCDs that restrict coverage which requires comment and notice. This revision is not a restriction to the coverage determination; and, therefore not all the fields included on the LCD are applicable as noted in this policy.

  • Provider Education/Guidance
06/20/2019 R10

Under CMS National Coverage Policy removed the first paragraph regarding quoted Internet Only Manual (IOM) text and consolidated CMS Internet-Only Manual, Pub 100-04, Medicare Claim Processing Manual, Chapter 11, §§30.2, 30.2.2, 30.3, and 30.4 regulation. Under Bibliography changes were made to citations to reflect AMA citation guidelines. Formatting, punctuation and typographical errors were corrected throughout the LCD. Acronyms were inserted and defined where appropriate throughout the LCD.

  • Provider Education/Guidance
05/03/2018 R9

Under CMS National Coverage Policy in the first paragraph deleted the second and third sentence.

At this time 21st Century Cures Act will apply to new and revised LCDs that restrict coverage which requires comment and notice. This revision is not a restriction to the coverage determination; and, therefore not all the fields included on the LCD are applicable as noted in this policy.

 

  • Provider Education/Guidance
05/04/2017 R8 Under CMS National Coverage Policy Change Request 9369, Transmittal 3378, dated October 16, 2015 was deleted as the information has been manualized and the following reference was added: CMS Internet-Only Manual, Pub 100-04, Medicare Claims Processing Manual, Chapter 11, §§30.2, 30.2.2, and 30.3.
  • Provider Education/Guidance
01/01/2017 R7 Under CPT/HCPCS Codes the description was revised for HCPCS code G0300. This revision is due to the 2017 Annual CPT/HCPCS Code Update and becomes effective 1/1/17.
  • Provider Education/Guidance
  • Revisions Due To CPT/HCPCS Code Changes
10/01/2016 R6 Under ICD-10 Codes That Support Medical Necessity added ICD-10 code M62.84. This revision is due to the Annual ICD-10 Code Update and becomes effective 10/01/16.
  • Provider Education/Guidance
  • Revisions Due To ICD-10-CM Code Changes
05/05/2016 R5 Under CMS National Coverage Policy added verbiage related to italicized text found throughout the LCD and revised “hospice” to read “terminally ill individual” in the first citation. Section 20.2 was deleted from the following: CMS Internet-Only Manual, Pub 100-02, Medicare Benefit Policy Manual, Chapter 9, §§10, 20.1, 20.2.1, 40, and 80 and added “each” in the verbiage for Title XVIII of the Social Security Act, §1812 (a)(4). Under Coverage Indications, Limitations and/or Medical Necessity for clarification purposes, revised the last paragraph to now read, “In the event a beneficiary presenting with a nutritional impairment and disability does not meet the medical criteria listed above, but is still thought to be eligible for the Medicare Hospice Benefit, an alternate diagnosis that best describes the clinical circumstances of the individual beneficiary should be selected (e.g. R63.4 "abnormal loss of weight" and R64 "Cachexia").” Under Associated Information-Documentation Requirements 1. deleted “the”. Under Sources of Information and Basis for Decision deleted “et al” and added author names to Anderson F, Downing GM, Hill J, Casorso L, Lerch N. Palliative performance scale (PPS): A new tool. Journal of Palliative Care. 1996;12(1):5-11. ”Et al” was deleted, an author name and page numbers were added, and the place of publication was added for the following: Fried L, Walston J. Frailty and Failure to Thrive. In: Hazzard WR, Blass JP, Ettinger WH, Ouslander J, eds. Principles of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology. New York, NY: McGraw Hill Companies, Inc;1999:1308-1402.
  • Provider Education/Guidance
  • Typographical Error
  • Other
01/01/2016 R4 Under CMS National Coverage Policy section added CMS Internet-Only Manual, Pub 100-04, Medicare Claims Processing Manual, Change Request 9369, Transmittal 3378 dated October 16, 2015. Under CPT/HCPCS Codes section added HCPCS codes G0299 and G0300.
  • Revisions Due To CPT/HCPCS Code Changes
10/01/2015 R3 Per CMS Internet-Only Manual, Pub 100-08, Medicare Program Integrity Manual, Chapter 13, §13.1.3 LCDs consist of only “reasonable and necessary” information. All bill type and revenue codes have been removed.
  • Other (Bill type and/or revenue code removal)
10/01/2015 R2 Under CMS National Coverage Policy added citation for CMS Internet-Only Manual 100-04, Chapter 11, §30.3 and 30.4; added citation for Change Request 8877, Transmittal 3032 Dated August 22, 2014. Under Coverage Indications, Limitations and/or Medical Necessity removed the last paragraph “In the event a beneficiary presenting with a nutritional impairment and disability does not meet the medical criteria listed above, but is still thought to be eligible for the Medicare Hospice Benefit, an alternate diagnosis that best describes the clinical circumstances of the individual beneficiary should be selected (e.g. 783.21 "abnormal loss of weight" and 799.4 "Cachexia")”. Corrected the paragraph to read “R63.4 “abnormal loss of weight” and R64 “Cachexia” are additional secondary diagnoses which may describe the clinical circumstances of an individual beneficiary”. Under ICD-10 Codes that Support Medical Necessity added R63.4 and R64. Under Associated Information added a "Utilization Guidelines" section with manual instructions on the use of ill-defined diagnoses. The instructions are as follows: Hospices may not report diagnosis codes that cannot be used as the principal diagnosis according to ICD-10-CM Coding Guidelines or require further compliance with various ICD-10-CM coding conventions, such as those that have principal diagnosis code sequencing guidelines and Hospices may not report debility, failure to thrive, or dementia codes classified as unspecified as principal hospice diagnoses on the hospice claim.
  • Provider Education/Guidance
  • Other (Annual Validation)
10/01/2015 R1 In CMS National Coverage Policy, added Hospice Care to citation for 42 CFR and added Title XVII- Health Insurance for the aged and disabled reference.
In Coverage and Indications, Limitations and /or Medical Necessity added “have an” in the last sentence of the first paragraph. Removed in-text citations as corrections were made to the citation list.

In Sources of Information and Basis for Decision, corrected all citations to AMA formatting. Moved Title XVII- Health Insurance for the aged and disabled reference to CMS National Coverage Policy.
  • Provider Education/Guidance
  • Other (Annual Validation)
N/A

Associated Documents

Attachments
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Related National Coverage Documents
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Public Versions
Updated On Effective Dates Status
12/29/2023 01/04/2024 - N/A Currently in Effect You are here
11/03/2021 11/11/2021 - 01/03/2024 Superseded View
Some older versions have been archived. Please visit the MCD Archive Site to retrieve them.

Keywords

  • Hospice The Adult Failure to Thrive
  • Adult Failure to Thrive
  • Failure to Thrive

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