CMS’s second HCPCS meeting of 2026
CMS will hold its second biannual HCPCS Level II public meeting of 2026 on November 2-3, in Baltimore and online, to review applications for new and revised Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System codes. The published agenda runs to 48 items, covering everything from an implantable spinal-stimulation device to a batch of 20 skin-substitute and wound-matrix products, and it’s a useful preview of where coders, CDI teams, and compliance staff will need to pay attention as these determinations finalize heading into 2027.
HCPCS Level II codes cover supplies, durable medical equipment (DME), and some drugs and biologics that fall outside CPT — the codes billing teams rely on for everything from wound dressings to prosthetics to blood products. Twice a year, manufacturers petition CMS to create or revise these codes, and CMS publishes a preliminary coding recommendation ahead of each public meeting so stakeholders can comment before anything is finalized.
What’s on the agenda
This cycle’s agenda includes several applications with real coding-workflow implications for billing teams and CDI specialists.
The notable device requests
- ExaStim Stimulation System (ANEUVO) — a spinal cord stimulation device for incomplete spinal cord injury. CMS has preliminarily proposed a brand-new code, assignment to the DME benefit category, and capped rental pricing, a more involved determination than most items on the agenda.
- Walkasins Lower Extremity Sensory Prosthesis (RxFunction, Inc.) — already coded under L8720; CMS’s preliminary 2026 payment determination is approximately $2,939.09.
- Vibrant Capsule (Vibrant Gastro, Inc.) — an ingestible vibratory capsule for chronic constipation. CMS proposes revising existing code A9269 and assigning it to the prosthetic benefit category, with a preliminary payment of about $17.17 per use.
- Jewel Patch wearable cardioverter defibrillator — one of several cardiac and neurostimulation devices on the agenda, alongside the Strolll augmented-reality rehabilitation system.
- Orpyx System Receiver and Footbed — a pressure-overload alert system for diabetic foot ulcer risk; CMS has preliminarily assigned the non-covered, no-payment code A9279 to both components.
Wound care’s outsized share of the agenda
No single code on this agenda is likely to dominate headlines the way a CPT Category III AI code or an ICD-10-CM annual update does. The more practical story for coding teams is the sheer density of wound-matrix and skin-substitute applications — roughly 20 of the 48 items, including Dermagraft, ChorioMatrix, AmniMend, SkinTE, MendEra, and more — in a product category payers already scrutinize closely for medical necessity and appropriate use. Coders and CDI specialists supporting wound care should expect code churn in this category to continue well past this meeting, and should treat each new or revised code as a trigger to re-check documentation requirements rather than assume prior payer guidance still applies once the code set changes.
Preliminary determinations aren’t final
It’s worth remembering that everything CMS publishes ahead of the meeting is a preliminary recommendation, not a final decision — that’s the entire purpose of the public comment process the meeting is built around. CMS also preliminarily declined a request from Point Designs and the Upper Limb Prosthetics Society (part of AAOP) to discontinue seven partial-hand and finger-prosthesis codes, proposing revised descriptors instead. That’s a useful reminder that these meetings cut in both directions: codes get trimmed or preserved depending on the evidence manufacturers and specialty societies present, not simply expanded by default.
Why this matters for coding and compliance teams
For most coders, HCPCS Level II updates land as a routine part of the annual code-set refresh rather than a dramatic event. But the November meeting is where that refresh actually gets decided, months before it takes effect, and the preliminary benefit-category and payment assignments published now are a reliable early signal of where CMS is headed on each application. Compliance teams reviewing medical necessity policies for DME and wound care in particular should treat this agenda as a leading indicator, not an afterthought once the final rule publishes. Getting ahead of a benefit-category change, such as the DME assignment proposed for ExaStim, can mean the difference between a clean claim and a denial once billing teams start using a new code without having updated prior-authorization and coverage workflows to match.
What to do before the codes finalize
Final decisions from this meeting typically appear in CMS’s HCPCS Level II code set update later in the year, well ahead of the codes taking effect. Teams that bill DME, wound care, or cardiac monitoring supplies should flag the relevant agenda items now rather than waiting for the final determinations to drop. The full CMS meeting agenda lists every applicant and CMS’s preliminary coding recommendation in detail, and is worth a direct read for any team coding in these specialty areas.
For teams managing high volumes of DME, wound care, or specialty supply codes, keeping pace with this kind of mid-cycle churn is exactly the sort of work that benefits from automation layered on top of experienced coders — which is where Medikode’s automated medical coding platform is built to help, flagging code and documentation changes as they move through the CMS pipeline instead of waiting for compliance teams to catch them after the fact.