UHC Commercial – Reimbursement Policy Update Bulletin: March 2021

Laboratory Services Respiratory Viral Panel Testing Policy, Facility –  Eff. June 1, 2021

• The new Laboratory Services Respiratory Viral Panel Testing Policy, Facility, will be effective for dates of service on or after 6/1/2021
• Consistent with guidelines included in CMS Local Coverage Determinations, the policy will deny certain multiplex PCR respiratory viral panels of 6 or more pathogens.

Laboratory Services Policy, Professional – Eff. June 1, 2021

• Effective with dates of service on or after June 1, 2021, UnitedHealthcare will update the Laboratory Services Policy, Professional
• The policy lab panel bundling criteria will require all individual component lab codes to be present, as set forth in CPT
• A lab panel code should only be reported if all components of the lab panel are rendered.
• Consistent with guidelines included in CMS Local Coverage Determinations, the policy will deny certain multiplex PCR respiratory viral panels of 6 or more pathogens

Source: https://www.uhcprovider.com/content/dam/provider/docs/public/policies/comm-reimbursement/rpub/UHC-COMM-RPUB-March-2021.pdf