CPT code 99479: Neonatal intensive care, 1,500–2,500 grams2026 Medicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $105.21 for 99479 nationally in a facility.

Medicare allowed amount for participating (non-QP) physicians, before deductible, coinsurance and claim adjustments. Not a patient’s bill or a hospital charge.

What 99479 covers

99479 represents a subsequent-day intensive-care service for an infant in the 1,500–2,500-gram weight band. A neonatologist or other physician or qualified health professional manages the infant in a neonatal intensive-care setting, reassessing clinical status and directing ongoing care when the infant continues to need intensive services. It is distinct from routine newborn or nursery management and from the initial hospital-care service.

Select the code using the infant’s documented weight band and whether the service is subsequent rather than initial; 99478 and 99480 represent the adjacent lower and higher bands. Report it for the day of subsequent intensive care, not as a timed service. Documentation should support the infant’s weight, continued need for intensive care, the clinician’s assessment, and the management provided that day. CMS assigns work, practice-expense, and malpractice relative value units to this per-day service.

This summary was written with AI assistance from CMS physician fee schedule data and checked against the CMS billing rules shown here. Rates on this page come directly from CMS files.

Where 99479 pays more and less

The same RVUs, adjusted for each area’s costs. Open a locality for its calculation, history and nearby areas.

109 of 109 payment localities

99479 rates by state

Office rate range in each state. Select a state to see its payment localities.

How the 99479 rate is calculated

Each of 99479’s three RVUs is multiplied by a geographic index (GPCI) for the payment locality, added up, and multiplied by the conversion factor. Drag the indexes or enter a ZIP to see what moves the rate.

Payment rules and modifiers for 99479

99479 has no global surgery period, no multiple-procedure, bilateral or assistant-at-surgery adjustment, and no professional/technical split. What changes the payment is where the service happens: the place of service on the claim decides whether Medicare pays the office or the facility rate.

99479 compared with similar codes

How to choose

99478Infant intensive careCurrent weight under 1,500 grams

Both describe subsequent intensive care, but 99478 is for the lower infant-weight band; 99479 covers 1,500–2,500 grams.

99480Infant intensive care2,501–5,000 grams

Both describe subsequent intensive care, but 99480 is for the higher infant-weight band; 99479 covers 1,500–2,500 grams.

99477Neonatal careInitial intensive-care day

99477 is for initial hospital care. Use 99479 for subsequent-day intensive care when the infant falls within its weight band.

99469Neonatal critical careSubsequent day

99469 describes subsequent neonatal critical care, while 99479 is the weight-banded subsequent intensive-care service for a 1,500–2,500-gram infant.

Codes related to 99479

Related codes aren’t interchangeable: bill the code that matches the service performed.

Where these rates come from

FeeBase calculates base physician payments from CMS work, practice-expense and malpractice RVUs, adjusted by each locality’s geographic indexes and the conversion factor. Services without a published rate are labeled, never given a made-up amount. Amounts are Medicare allowed amounts before claim adjustments: not a patient’s bill or a commercial rate.

CMS RVU26D · effective Oct 1, 2026 through the day before Jan 1, 2027

Open CMS sourceHow we calculate rates