Key facts for NCD 150.10
- Benefit category
- Inpatient Hospital Services, Physicians' Services
- Effective date
- 08/14/2007
- Implemented 10/01/2007
- Transmittal
- Transmittal 75
- Versions published
- 2
- Manual chapter
- 150
- NCD Manual (Pub. 100-03)
TL;DR
NCD 150.10 sets Medicare's national policy for lumbar artificial disc replacement (ladr) under the benefit category "Inpatient Hospital Services, Physicians' Services", effective 08/14/2007 and implemented 10/01/2007. Effective for services performed from May 16, 2006 through August 13, 2007, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has found that LADR with the Charite™ lumbar artificial disc is not reasonable and necessary for the Medicare population over 60… It has been revised 1 time since publication and binds every Medicare Administrative Contractor nationally.
Item or service described
A. General
The lumbar artificial disc replacement (LADR) is a surgical procedure on the lumbar spine that involves complete removal of the damaged or diseased lumbar intervertebral disc and implantation of an artificial disc. The procedure may be done as an alternative to lumbar spinal fusion and is intended to reduce pain, increase movement at the site of surgery and restore intervertebral disc height. The Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of LADR for spine arthroplasty in skeletally mature patients with degenerative or discogenic disc disease at one level for L3 to S1.
Indications and limitations of coverage
B. Nationally Covered Indications
N/A
C. Nationally Non-Covered Indications
Effective for services performed from May 16, 2006 through August 13, 2007, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has found that LADR with the Charite™ lumbar artificial disc is not reasonable and necessary for the Medicare population over 60 years of age; therefore, LADR with the Charite™ lumbar artificial disc is non-covered for Medicare beneficiaries over 60 years of age.
Effective for services performed on or after August 14, 2007, CMS has found that LADR is not reasonable and necessary for the Medicare population over 60 years of age; therefore, LADR is non-covered for Medicare beneficiaries over 60 years of age.
D. Other
For Medicare beneficiaries 60 years of age and younger, there is no national coverage determination for LADR, leaving such determinations to continue to be made by the local Medicare Administrative Contractors.
For dates of service May 16, 2006 through August 13, 2007, Medicare coverage under the investigational device exemption (IDE) for LADR with a disc other than the Charite™ lumbar disc in eligible clinical trials is not impacted.
Text reproduced from the CMS Medicare Coverage Database record for NCD 150.10 version 2. View the original on cms.gov.
Revision history
04/2023 - Transmittal 11884 issued March 01, 2023, is being rescinded and replaced by Transmittal 11952, dated, April 12, 2023, to remove the A/B MACs (Part A) and FISS from BR 13070.1 and to revise the NCD 20.4 Implantable Automatic Defibrillators (ICDs) spreadsheet. All other information remains the same. ( TN 11952 ) (CR13070)
02/2023 - The purpose of the Change Request (CR) is to provide a maintenance update of ICD-10 conversions and other coding updates specific to NCDs. These NCD coding changes are the result of newly available codes, coding revisions to NCDs released separately, or coding feedback received. ( TN 11832 ) (CR13070)
03/2013 - CMS translated the information for this policy from ICD-9-CM/PCS to ICD-10-CM/PCS according to HIPAA standard medical data code set requirements and updated any necessary and related coding infrastructure. These updates do not expand, restrict, or alter existing coverage policy. Implementation date: 10/07/2013 Effective date: 10/1/2015. ( TN 1199 ) ( TN 1199 ) (CR 8197)
09/2007 - Effective date: 08/14/2007. Implementation date: 10/01/2007. ( TN 75 ) CR5727
06/2006 - Upon completion of a national coverage analysis (NCA) for LADR, the decision was made that LADR with the Charite ™ lumbar artificial disc is non-covered for Medicare beneficiaries over 60 years of age. Effective date for Carriers: 07/17/2006 Effective date for FI's: 10/01/2006.( TN 60 ) CR5057
How this NCD shows up on remittances
A service denied under a National Coverage Determination returns CARC 50 (not deemed medically necessary) with remark N386 (decision based on an NCD); a denial citing a local policy instead carries N115. Because NCDs bind nationally, the appeal path is documentation that the patient meets the indications above, not a contractor-policy argument.
How QuickIntell applies NCD 150.10
QuickAuth checks the ordered service and diagnosis against NCD and LCD criteria before the encounter, QuickCode validates the diagnosis pairing on the claim, and QuickRCM routes CARC 50 denials with the policy text and the covered-code list attached so the appeal starts with evidence.
Frequently asked questions — NCD 150.10
What does NCD 150.10 cover?
Effective for services performed from May 16, 2006 through August 13, 2007, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has found that LADR with the Charite™ lumbar artificial disc is not reasonable and necessary for the Medicare population over 60 years of age; therefore, LADR with the Charite™ lumbar artificial disc is non-covered for Medicare beneficiaries over 60 years of age. The full indications and limitations are reproduced on this page from the CMS Medicare Coverage Database.
When did NCD 150.10 take effect?
The current version (2) is effective 08/14/2007, implemented 10/01/2007, published in transmittal 75. CMS lists 2 versions of this NCD.
Does a Local Coverage Determination override NCD 150.10?
No. A National Coverage Determination binds all Medicare Administrative Contractors; an LCD can only address services or circumstances the NCD leaves open. Claims denied under this NCD typically return CARC 50 with remark N386 (NCD) rather than N115 (LCD).
Sources
Every figure on this page is taken from the CMS publications below, as released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Projection built 2026-10-02. Verify against the primary file before billing or contracting decisions.
- Medicare Coverage Database NCDs via the CMS Coverage APIVersion API snapshot 2026-09-27 · effective 2026-09-20 · file national-coverage-ncd.jsonSHA-256 a90fadfd264b9ef4…
Disclaimer
This page reproduces the CMS National Coverage Determination text and, for laboratory NCDs, the CMS ICD-10 edit lists, as an operational reference. Coverage decisions depend on the full policy, the claim and the contractor; nothing here is legal, clinical or billing advice. CPT codes are shown as numbers only; CPT descriptors are copyright AMA.