Key facts for NCD 30.5
- Benefit category
- Incident to a physician's professional Service, Physicians' Services
- Effective date
- 11/11/1995
- Implemented 11/11/1995
- Transmittal
- Transmittal 79
- Versions published
- 1
- Manual chapter
- 30
- NCD Manual (Pub. 100-03)
TL;DR
NCD 30.5 sets Medicare's national policy for transcendental meditation under the benefit category "Incident to a physician's professional Service, Physicians' Services", effective 11/11/1995 and implemented 11/11/1995. After review of this issue, CMS has concluded that the evidence concerning the medical efficacy of TM is incomplete at best and does not demonstrate effectiveness and that a professional level of skill is not required for the training of patients to engage… It has been revised once since publication and binds every Medicare Administrative Contractor nationally.
Item or service described
Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a skill that is claimed to produce a state of rest and relaxation when practiced effectively. Typically, patients are taught TM techniques over the course of several sessions by persons trained in TM. The patient then uses the TM technique on his or her own to induce the relaxed state. Proponents of TM have urged that Medicare cover the training of patients to practice TM when it is medically prescribed as treatment for mild hypertension, as adjunctive therapy in the treatment of essential hypertension, or as the sole or adjunctive treatment of anxiety and other psychological stress-related disorders.
Indications and limitations of coverage
After review of this issue, CMS has concluded that the evidence concerning the medical efficacy of TM is incomplete at best and does not demonstrate effectiveness and that a professional level of skill is not required for the training of patients to engage in TM.
Although many articles have been written about application of TM for patients with certain forms of hypertension and anxiety, there are no rigorous scientific studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of TM for use as an adjunct medical therapy for such conditions. Accordingly, neither TM nor the training of patients for its use are covered under the Medicare program.
Text reproduced from the CMS Medicare Coverage Database record for NCD 30.5 version 1. View the original on cms.gov.
Revision history
09/1995 - Reflected noncoverage of transcendental meditation and cost of training patients to use it. Effective date 10/11/1995. (TN 79)
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 30.5
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 30.5
What does NCD 30.5 cover?
After review of this issue, CMS has concluded that the evidence concerning the medical efficacy of TM is incomplete at best and does not demonstrate effectiveness and that a professional level of skill is not required for the training of patients to engage in TM. The full indications and limitations are reproduced on this page from the CMS Medicare Coverage Database.
When did NCD 30.5 take effect?
The current version (1) is effective 11/11/1995, implemented 11/11/1995, published in transmittal 79. This is the only published version.
Does a Local Coverage Determination override NCD 30.5?
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.