GENERAL POLICY – Anesthesiology – Medicaid
Medicaid covers anesthesia only when administered by a licensed anesthesiologist or a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) who remains in attendance for the sole purpose of rendering general anesthesia in order to afford the patient anesthesia care deemed optimal during any procedure. The base code for the anesthesia is paid once and therefore if the CRNA fills in for the initial anesthesiologist, the time for the procedure is paid but a second base for the code is not paid. A list of CPT codes covered for the nurse anesthetist (CRNA) is found in another post here.
The American Society of Anesthesiologists relative value guide is accepted as the basis for coding and definition of anesthesia provided to Medicaid patients.
