# Compare policies across jurisdictions
URL: https://backworkhealth.com/docs/api/comparePolicies

Compare coverage policies across MAC jurisdictions for the same procedure codes.

**Endpoint:** `POST /api/v1/policies/compare`

**Availability:** Live in production.

**Authentication:** API key in `Authorization: Bearer <key>` with the `read` scope.

Compare coverage policies across MAC jurisdictions for the same procedure codes. National policies are listed separately and also applied to every jurisdiction. Requires the multi-MAC compare plan feature. Send `X-Idempotency-Key` for safe retries; a replayed response carries `meta.cached: true`.

**Parameters**

* `X-Idempotency-Key` (header): Unique request identifier for safe retries (recommended)
* `procedure_codes` (body, required): CPT/HCPCS codes to compare coverage for
* `policy_type` (body): Filter by policy type (all Medicare types if omitted)
* `jurisdictions` (body): Specific MAC jurisdictions to compare (all if omitted). `J01`-style codes are normalized to `J1`.

**Code sources:** Code entries in the response carry a `source`: `document` when the policy document lists the code, `inferred_title_match` when the code was attached because the policy title names the drug. See [Code sources](/docs/code-sources).

**Example request**

```bash
curl -X POST "https://backworkhealth.com/api/v1/policies/compare" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BACKWORK_API_KEY" \
  -H "X-Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
  "procedure_codes": [
    "76942",
    "76937"
  ]
}'
```

**Example response** (`200`)

```json
{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "comparison": [
      {
        "jurisdiction": "string",
        "mac": {
          "name": "string",
          "code": "string",
          "jurisdiction_name": "string",
          "states": []
        },
        "policies": [
          {}
        ],
        "coverage_summary": {
          "covered": 0,
          "not_covered": 0,
          "requires_pa": 0,
          "conditional": 0
        }
      }
    ],
    "national_policies": [
      {
        "policy_id": "string",
        "title": "string",
        "policy_type": "string",
        "effective_date": "2026-01-15",
        "source_url": "string",
        "public_url": "https://backworkhealth.com/policy/L33831",
        "source_check": {
          "source_url": "https://www.cms.gov/medicare-coverage-database/view/lcd.aspx?lcdid=33831",
          "last_fetched_at": "2026-01-15T10:30:00Z",
          "content_sha256": "9f86d081884c7d659a2feaa0c55ad015a3bf4f1b2b0b822cd15d6c15b0f00a08",
          "source_accuracy": []
        },
        "is_national": true,
        "codes": [
          {}
        ]
      }
    ],
    "summary": {
      "total_jurisdictions": 0,
      "jurisdictions_with_coverage": 0,
      "national_policies_count": 0,
      "has_variation": true,
      "queried_codes": [
        "string"
      ],
      "requested_jurisdictions": [
        "string"
      ],
      "unresolved_jurisdictions": [
        "string"
      ],
      "policy_type_filter": "string"
    }
  },
  "meta": {
    "request_id": "string",
    "timestamp": "2026-01-15T10:30:00Z",
    "idempotency_key": "string",
    "cached": true
  }
}
```