Magnetic Resonance Angiography - RETIRED | CMS Coverage Update

Summary: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services modified its Magnetic Resonance Angiography coverage policy, effective May 15, 2026, retiring the standalone policy document. Here's what billing teams need to know before that date.

CMS has retired its dedicated Magnetic Resonance Angiography coverage policy. This is not a minor formatting update — retiring a coverage policy changes how Medicare Administrative Contractors interpret medical necessity for MRA claims. The policy does not list specific CPT or HCPCS codes in the available documentation, so billing teams should pull their current code list and cross-reference against active LCD guidance before May 15, 2026.

Quick-Reference Table

CMS Magnetic Resonance Angiography Coverage Policy: What "Retired" Actually Means in 2026

When CMS retires a national coverage policy, it does not mean MRA is suddenly uncovered. It means the national-level document that defined coverage criteria no longer exists as a standalone reference. Coverage authority shifts — or consolidates — at the Medicare Administrative Contractor level through local coverage determinations.

That shift matters for your billing team. If your staff was citing this CMS policy to support medical necessity on MRA claims, that reference is gone after the effective date of May 15, 2026. You need a replacement reference, and that replacement comes from your MAC.

This is similar to what happened with several imaging policies over the past few years — CMS retires the national document, and coverage becomes patchwork across MAC jurisdictions. That creates real risk for radiology and cardiology billing teams who operate across multiple regions.

CMS Magnetic Resonance Angiography Coverage Criteria and Medical Necessity Requirements 2026

The available policy documentation does not include detailed criteria text — the document is marked as retired with no accompanying detail provided in the source data. That absence is itself a signal. When CMS retires a coverage policy without a direct replacement, medical necessity determinations fall to the MAC-level LCD framework.

Here's what that means practically. Before May 15, 2026, your billing team needs to know which MAC covers your region and whether that MAC has an active LCD governing magnetic resonance angiography billing. If your MAC does not have an LCD, coverage defaults to contractor discretion — which means less predictability and higher claim denial risk.

Medical necessity for MRA historically hinges on clinical indication: suspected vascular disease, pre-surgical planning, follow-up after intervention, or evaluation of conditions like aortic aneurysm or carotid stenosis. Without a national coverage policy to anchor those criteria, your documentation needs to be airtight. Reviewers will lean on what's in the medical record, not a policy document.

Prior authorization requirements do not disappear when a coverage policy is retired. If your MAC or any Medicare Advantage plan layered prior auth requirements on top of the CMS policy, those requirements stay in place. Check your MAC's website and any applicable plan-level rules before assuming prior authorization is off the table.

Reimbursement rates for MRA procedures are set through the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and do not change because of a policy retirement. What changes is the coverage policy framework used to adjudicate whether a claim is medically necessary.

CMS Magnetic Resonance Angiography Exclusions and Non-Covered Indications

Because the policy data includes no criteria detail, no specific exclusions are documented here. That is not a green light to bill without restriction.

Historically, CMS and MAC LCDs have excluded MRA in certain contexts — screening without clinical indication, repeat imaging without documented change in clinical status, and use of MRA when a lower-cost imaging modality would be equally diagnostic. Those exclusions do not vanish with the policy retirement. They may now live entirely within your MAC's LCD or within Medicare Advantage plan policies.

If you bill MRA in any of those borderline situations, talk to your compliance officer before May 15, 2026. The risk of claim denial is higher when there is no national coverage policy to anchor your defense.

Coverage Indications at a Glance

Because the retired CMS policy provides no indication-level criteria in the available data, this table reflects the general MRA coverage framework that has historically applied under CMS policy. Verify each indication against your MAC's current LCD.

CMS Magnetic Resonance Angiography Billing Guidelines and Action Items 2026

CPT, HCPCS, and ICD-10 Codes for Magnetic Resonance Angiography Under This Policy

The retired CMS Magnetic Resonance Angiography coverage policy does not list specific CPT, HCPCS, or ICD-10 codes in the available documentation. This is a meaningful gap.

Do not assume this means all MRA codes are unaffected. It means the code-level specifics live elsewhere — in your MAC's LCD, in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, or in individual plan policies.

What to Do Instead of Relying on This Policy's Code List

Pull the current code list from your MAC's LCD for MRA. Common MRA CPT codes in clinical practice include head, neck, chest, abdomen, pelvis, and extremity MRA — but do not rely on any code list that is not sourced from a current, active policy document. Using codes from a retired policy without verifying their status in active MAC guidance is a direct path to claim denial.

If your billing software maps to a specific policy document for MRA code validation, update that mapping before May 15, 2026. Running claims against a retired policy reference is not a defensible position in an audit.