A national coverage determination (NCD) is a United States' nationwide determination of whether Medicare will pay for an item or service.
Medicare coverage is limited to items and services that are considered "reasonable and necessary" for the diagnosis or treatment of an illness or injury (and within the scope of a Medicare benefit category).
In the absence of a NCD, an item or service is covered at the discretion of the Medicare contractors based on a Local Coverage Determination (LCD).
Read more about National Coverage Determination: What Triggers An NCD?, The NCD Decision Process, Relationship of NCDs and LCDs, Evaluating LCDs For NCD Consideration
Famous quotes containing the word national:
“Our national experience in Americanizing millions of Europeans whose chief wish was to become Americans has been a heady wine which has made us believe, as perhaps no nation before us has ever believed, that, given the slimmest chance, all peoples will pattern themselves upon our model.”
—Ruth Benedict (1887–1948)