On July 11, CMS released their decision summary on the national coverage determination (NCD) for PTA of the Carotid Artery Concurrent with Stenting. The decision is in response to a request from the Multispecialty Carotid Alliance (MSCA) and comments received from SCAI and other organizations.

In the summary, CMS has accepted the request to make the guidelines less restrictive including expanding coverage removing facility and operator requirements. CMS has added formal shared decision-making to the NCD and has requested comment on this requirement. SCAI will be submitting comments by the deadline.