HCPCS code Q9959: High-osmolar contrast, 150–199 mg iodine/ml2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in California

CMS doesn’t publish an office rate for Q9959 in California.

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

What Q9959 covers

This HCPCS Level II code identifies high-osmolar contrast material in the 150–199 mg iodine/ml concentration range. Imaging departments and other providers furnishing contrast for diagnostic radiology may report it for the amount used with an imaging service. The code identifies the contrast agent quantity, not the imaging study or its interpretation; select the contrast code according to the material’s osmolarity category and iodine concentration.

CMS assigns physician fee schedule status E, excluding the code from the physician fee schedule. When Medicare covers the item, payment is made under another payment method; the HCPCS pricing classification is Part B drug, generally priced from CMS quarterly Average Sales Price files when covered. Special Medicare coverage instructions apply. One billing unit represents 1 ml of contrast material, so the reported quantity corresponds to the number of milliliters furnished.

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 Q9959 pays more and less in California

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

29 of 29 payment localities

How the Q9959 rate is calculated

Each of Q9959’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 Q9959

Q9959 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.

Q9959 compared with similar codes

How to choose

Q9958High-osmolar contrastUp to 149 mg/mL iodine

Use Q9958 for high-osmolar contrast at the lower iodine concentration range; Q9959 applies at 150–199 mg iodine/ml.

Q9960Iodinated contrastHigh osmolar, 200–249 mg/mL

Q9960 applies to high-osmolar material at 200–249 mg iodine/ml, above Q9959’s range.

Q9965Iodinated contrast100–199 mg iodine/mL

Q9965 is for low-osmolar contrast at 100–199 mg iodine/ml. Q9959 is for high-osmolar contrast in its stated range.

Codes related to Q9959

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