CommercialCoverageMedium impact
11.00.16j, Ablation of Lung Tumors
Independence Blue Cross·Pulmonology, Oncology, Cardiothoracic Surgery +1 more·Medical Policy
Effective date
Jul 28, 2025
We identified it
Jun 19, 2026
Summary
Independence Blue Cross has updated policy 11.00.16j to 11.00.16k, adding pulsed electric field (PEF) ablation as experimental/investigational for lung tumors, effective 07/28/2025. This change introduces new HCPCS code C8005 and CPT codes 0600T and 0601T as non-covered services. Existing coverage for radiofrequency ablation, cryosurgical ablation, and microwave ablation remains unchanged.
Action Required
By July 28, 2025: Billing team must update billing software to mark HCPCS code C8005 and CPT codes 0600T and 0601T as experimental/investigational (non-covered) for all lung ablation claims under Independence Blue Cross commercial plans. Update claim scrubbing rules to deny or route these codes for manual review with denial messaging citing experimental status. Add internal alerts to providers and coders to prevent submission of these codes for lung tumor ablation procedures. CPT codes 31641, 32994, and 32998 remain covered under existing medical necessity criteria; ensure these codes continue to process normally when appropriate clinical criteria are met.