HCPCS code A9528: Iodine-131 capsule, diagnostic, per millicurie2026 Medicare rate & RVUs

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

What A9528 covers

This code identifies radioactive sodium iodide in capsule form for diagnostic use. Nuclear medicine teams use oral iodine-131 in thyroid uptake and imaging evaluations, including assessment of thyroid function or thyroid tissue. A nuclear medicine physician typically interprets the study, while the radiopharmaceutical may be supplied by a radiopharmacy and administered in a nuclear medicine setting. The capsule is the radiopharmaceutical, not the imaging or uptake procedure itself.

The HCPCS unit is one millicurie, so report the number of millicuries furnished. The physician fee schedule status is C, carrier priced: CMS publishes no national payment, and the Medicare Administrative Contractor sets payment for each claim under other contractor pricing. Coverage is left to the Medicare contractor’s judgment.

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 A9528 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

A9528 rates by state

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

How the A9528 rate is calculated

Each of A9528’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 A9528

A9528 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.

A9528 compared with similar codes

How to choose

A9529I-131 sodium iodideDiagnostic solution, per mCi

Both identify diagnostic iodine-131 sodium iodide, but A9528 is the capsule and A9529 is the solution.

A9516Iodine-123 sodium iodidePer 100 microcuries

A9516 is diagnostic iodine-123 sodium iodide. Choose by the radiopharmaceutical and isotope furnished, not simply because both are used for thyroid studies.

A9517I-131 capsuleTherapeutic, per millicurie

A9517 identifies iodine-131 capsules for therapeutic use; A9528 is for diagnostic use.

78014Thyroid scanQuantitative uptake measurement

78014 reports thyroid imaging with uptake, while A9528 reports the diagnostic iodine-131 capsule supplied for the study.

Codes related to A9528

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