When billing Medicare for smoking and tobacco-use cessation counseling, how should providers track the 12-month limit of eight sessions to ensure compliance?
Medicare payers have been instructed to only pay for eight smoking and tobacco-use cessation counseling sessions in a 12-month period. The beneficiary may receive additional sessions in a subsequent year, but a minimum of 11 full months must have passed since the first covered session was performed. To start the count for the second or subsequent 12-month period, begin with the month after the month in which the first Medicare-covered cessation session was performed and count until 11 full months have elapsed.
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