HCPCS code Q9961: Iodinated contrast, 250–299 mg iodine/mL2026 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 Q9961 covers

Q9961 identifies high-osmolar iodinated contrast material with an iodine concentration from 250 through 299 mg per mL. Radiology departments and other imaging providers use contrast agents during diagnostic studies to make selected organs, vessels, or other structures more visible on radiographic images. The route depends on the specific product and examination; the code identifies the contrast material by concentration, not the imaging procedure or the route of administration.

CMS assigns this HCPCS Level II code physician fee schedule status E, so it is excluded from the physician fee schedule. When Medicare covers the item, payment is under another method; the HCPCS pricing method classifies it as a Part B drug, generally paid using CMS quarterly Average Sales Price drug pricing files. Special Medicare coverage instructions apply. The billing unit is 1 mL, so report units based on the volume represented by the claim and document the product, iodine concentration, and amount used.

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 Q9961 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

Q9961 rates by state

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

How the Q9961 rate is calculated

Each of Q9961’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 Q9961

Q9961 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.

Q9961 compared with similar codes

How to choose

Q9960Iodinated contrastHigh osmolar, 200–249 mg/mL

Both identify high-osmolar iodinated contrast billed per mL. Use Q9960 for 200–249 mg iodine/mL and Q9961 for 250–299 mg/mL.

Q9962Iodinated contrastHigh osmolar, 300–349 mg/mL

Both identify high-osmolar iodinated contrast billed per mL. Q9962 is for 300–349 mg iodine/mL, above Q9961’s concentration range.

Q9966Low-osmolar contrast200-299 mg iodine/ml

Q9966 identifies low-osmolar contrast at 200–299 mg iodine/mL. Q9961 is for high-osmolar contrast at 250–299 mg iodine/mL.

Q9967Iodinated contrast300–399 mg iodine/mL

Q9967 identifies low-osmolar contrast at 300–399 mg iodine/mL. Q9961 identifies high-osmolar contrast at 250–299 mg iodine/mL.

Codes related to Q9961

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