HCPCS code G0156: Aide services, per 15 minutes2026 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 G0156 covers

G0156 represents home health or hospice aide services provided in the patient’s home. Aides commonly assist with personal care activities such as bathing, grooming, dressing, and mobility. The code identifies aide services, not the skilled nursing, therapy, or social work services that may also be part of the patient’s care.

Each unit represents 15 minutes of aide service. Medicare assigns this code statutory exclusion status X because aide services are not physician services under the Medicare statute, so the physician fee schedule does not pay it. The HCPCS pricing status says Medicare Part B does not separately price the code; when covered, payment is under another fee schedule or payment system. 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 G0156 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

G0156 rates by state

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

How the G0156 rate is calculated

Each of G0156’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 G0156

G0156 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.

G0156 compared with similar codes

How to choose

G0151Home health PTQualified therapist, per 15 minutes

G0156 is for aide services such as personal care; G0151 is for services furnished by a home health physical therapist.

G0152Occupational therapyHome health or hospice, per 15 minutes

G0156 identifies aide services, while G0152 identifies home health occupational therapy services.

G0153Speech-language servicePer 15 minutes

G0156 identifies aide services, while G0153 identifies home health speech-language pathology services.

G0155Social workHome health or hospice

G0156 is for aide services; G0155 is for home health or hospice clinical social worker services.

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