We have been getting denials from Anthem when billing 20610 on multiple joints at one visit. We have several different scenarios…bilateral knees with Rt shoulder, bilateral shoulder with Rt hip, etc. We have billed them as 20610-50 (linked to the bilateral joint dx codes) and 20610-XS-Rt (linked to Rt dx code). They have come back denying the single 20610, but paying the bilateral. When our follow-up girl has spoken to an Anthem rep, she was told that they won’t pay the 20610-XS-Rt, because they already paid for a 20610-Rt in the 20610-50.
We then tried rebilling as corrected claim as 20610-Rt 2 units (linked to the 2 different Rt dx) and 20610-Lt (linked to the Lt dx). They have still come back denied.
Our follow-up girl is asking if we can simply bill 20610 3 units linked to all dx, with no anatomical modifier. She said they keep telling her they want it on one line. I’m so confused. Has anyone else run into this problem? How do you suggest we bill these? Is there a problem with using XS modifier with Anthem??

Please help!