CMS identifies billing codes for Eli Lilly’s COVID-19 antibody therapy

By Katie Adams for Becker’s Hospital Review

CMS published specific codes for billing Medicare for Eli Lilly’s COVID-19 antibody cocktail.

The FDA granted emergency use authorization Feb. 9 to the antibody cocktail, a combination of antibodies bamlanivimab and etesevimab.

The agency granted emergency use authorization to bamlanivimab Nov. 9. The new approval is based on phase 3 trial data that showed that administering bamlanivimab in combination with etesevimab reduced the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization and death by 70 percent.

The codes for the antibody cocktail, published Feb. 18, are Q0245 and M0245, with the latter assigned to a 2100 mg injection and the former assigned to an intravenous infusion and post-administration monitoring.