Mohs Micrographic Surgery

Medicare will reimburse Mohs micrographic surgery for a range of skin cancers—most commonly basal cell, squamous cell, and basalosquamous carcinomas—when located in high-recurrence or cosmetically/ functionally critical sites, when tumors are recurrent, aggressive, large (≥2.0 cm), have positive margins, poorly defined borders, perineural invasion, are radiation-induced, arise in scars, occur in immunocompromised patients, or for many specified uncommon/aggressive cutaneous neoplasms. The physician must personally provide both the surgical excision and the histologic evaluation and be specifically trained in MMS; if the physician does not perform the pathology, MMS CPT codes from this LCD are not billable. Providers must give written notice to beneficiaries when coverage is uncertain, and standard limitation-of-liability/refund rules apply except for statutory exclusions or screening services.

"Mohs micrographic surgery is covered for basal cell carcinoma located in the mask area of the face (central face, eyelids, eyebrows, periorbital areas, nose, lips, chin, mandible, periauricular are..."