US · guidance
CMS Pub. 100-03, ch. 1, § 30.3.2
Acupuncture for Osteoarthritis (Effective April 16, 2004)
A. General
Acupuncture is the selection and manipulation of specific acupuncture points by a
variety of needling and non-needling techniques.
B. Nationally Covered Indications
N/A for acupuncture for osteoarthritis.
C. Nationally Non-Covered Indications
Effective for claims with dates of service on and after April 16, 2004, after careful
reconsideration of its initial non-coverage determination for acupuncture, the Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) concludes that there is no convincing
evidence for the use of acupuncture for pain relief in patients with osteoarthritis. Study
design flaws presently prohibit assessing acupuncture’s utility for improving health
outcomes. Accordingly, CMS determines that acupuncture is not considered reasonable
and necessary for the treatment of osteoarthritis within the meaning of §1862(a)(1) of
the Social Security Act, and the national non-coverage determination for acupuncture
for osteoarthritis continues.
D. Other
N/A
(This NCD last reviewed April 2004.)
History
(Rev. 10337, Issued: 08-27-20, Effective: 01-21-20, Implementation: 06-24 - 20 - A/B MACs; 10-05-20-SSM Edits; 01- 04-21 - BR 13 CWF only)
Provenance
- Source
- cms.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-08-25
- Edition
- iom-2026-08-25
- Content hash
50e702e010f2b0c77f95882ee8303da565903ac3a72d16a3cbc589215fbcdfa1
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