Medicare Announces Criteria Covering Dexcom G5 Mobile CGM for All People with Diabetes on Intensive Insulin Therapy

March 24, 2017 07:43 AM PDT

Dexcom is pleased to announce that the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has published an article clarifying criteria for coverage and coding of the Dexcom G5 Mobile system, the only therapeutic CGM under this CMS classification. People covered by Medicare who have either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes and intensively manage their insulin will now be able to obtain reimbursement.

"This is a new era and a huge win for people with diabetes on Medicare who can benefit from therapeutic CGM," said Kevin Sayer, President and Chief Executive Officer, Dexcom. "This decision supports the emerging consensus that CGM is the standard of care for any patient on intensive insulin therapy, regardless of age."

According to CMS, therapeutic CGM may be covered by Medicare when all of the following criteria are met:

The beneficiary has diabetes mellitus; and,
The beneficiary has been using a home blood glucose monitor (BGM) and performing frequent (four or more times a day) BGM testing; and,
The beneficiary is insulin-treated with multiple daily injections (MDI) of insulin or a continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) pump; and,
The patient's insulin treatment regimen requires frequent adjustment by the beneficiary on the basis of therapeutic CGM testing results.

In order to be included in this category, the system must be defined as therapeutic CGM, meaning you can make treatment decisions using the device. Dexcom G5 Mobile is the only system approved by the FDA to meet that criteria.

See the Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) website for instructions for individual claim adjudication. Coverage is effective for claims with dates of service on or after January 12, 2017. A link to the article on coding and coverage can be found at: https://med.noridianmedicare.com/web/jddme/policies/dmd-articles/coding-and-coverage-therapeutic-continuous-glucose-monitors .