HCPCS code Q9965: Iodinated contrast, 100–199 mg iodine/mL2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in California

CMS doesn’t publish an office rate for Q9965 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 Q9965 covers

Q9965 identifies low-osmolar iodinated contrast material with an iodine concentration of 100–199 mg/mL. Imaging departments and radiology practices use this contrast for diagnostic studies such as contrast-enhanced CT and angiography, commonly administering it into the bloodstream. The code identifies the contrast agent, not the imaging acquisition or interpretation.

CMS assigns this code physician fee schedule status E, meaning it is excluded from the physician fee schedule by regulation. When Medicare covers the item, payment is under another method; CMS classifies it as a Part B drug that generally uses the quarterly Average Sales Price drug pricing files. Special Medicare coverage instructions apply. The code is reported per milliliter: one billing unit represents 1 mL of contrast material.

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 Q9965 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 Q9965 rate is calculated

Each of Q9965’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 Q9965

Q9965 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.

Q9965 compared with similar codes

How to choose

Q9966Low-osmolar contrast200-299 mg iodine/ml

Q9966 is for low-osmolar contrast with 200–299 mg/mL iodine; Q9965 is for 100–199 mg/mL.

Q9967Iodinated contrast300–399 mg iodine/mL

Q9967 is for low-osmolar contrast with 300–399 mg/mL iodine. Use Q9965 for the lower 100–199 mg/mL range.

Q9959High-osmolar contrast150–199 mg iodine/ml

Q9959 describes high-osmolar contrast in the 150–199 mg/mL range. Q9965 has a similar iodine concentration range but identifies low-osmolar material.

Codes related to Q9965

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