BCBS of North Carolina Extends Coverage of Laser Ablation to Brain Tumor

On July 21, BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina extended its medical coverage policy to allow coverage for MRI-guided Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy (LITT) to treat brain tumor patients. The additional indication updates the previous policy issued in February that provides coverage for LITT for patients with epilepsy under certain conditions. In addition to advocating for coverage for LITT, the AANS and the CNS have submitted a CPT Code Change Application for a Category I CPT code for the procedure, which will be considered at the October CPT Editorial Panel meeting.