Medicare national coverage

Medicare NCD list

A national coverage determination (NCD) is CMS's decision on whether Medicare covers an item or service everywhere in the country. Every Medicare Administrative Contractor has to follow it. Where an NCD exists, local coverage determinations can add detail but cannot contradict it.

There are 345 NCDs in the current list, 23 of them for clinical laboratory services. They are numbered by section of the Medicare National Coverage Determinations Manual, which is how CMS, contractors and denial letters cite them (for example, NCD 220.6.1, PET for perfusion of the heart).

Source: CMS Medicare Coverage Database, via the public CMS Coverage API, snapshot Oct 25, 2026. Numbers link to the NCD on cms.gov.

For local policy, see the Medicare LCD list by topic. To check a claim against both, use Coverage Check or talk to us.