CPT 0494T
Contractor-priced
0494T · PFS Q3 2019 · Historical
No national PFS rate in Q3 2019
Your Medicare Administrative Contractor prices this code case by case, usually after reviewing documentation.
Check for a published amount in your locality.
CPT 0494T has no published national rate. It carries status C (carrier-priced) in the Q3 2019 release. Your Medicare Administrative Contractor prices this code case by case, usually after reviewing documentation. The blank amount means unpriced, not $0.
PFS status evidence
Inspect PFS status evidence
- Code
- 0494T
- Release
- Q3 2019, revision 1
- Result
- Contractor-priced
Citations
-
Shows this code’s PFS status (C). Result: Contractor-priced.
Physician relative value file (PPRRVU)Q3 2019 · revision 1
Latest revision of this release
Release period: July 1 – September 30, 2019
This PFS record alone does not establish a $0 allowance or a coverage determination. Any amount from another schedule needs its own evidence.
Record details
PPRRVU19_JUL.csv in rvu19c.zip (row 5,304)- hcpcs (col 1)
- 0494T
- modifier (col 2)
- blank
- status_code (col 4)
- C
SHA-256: 2ea00e3e75fc3a53497bb8eb3c7d29a58404efd9449993daa6f80791a770b47a
Why is there no national PFS amount for 0494T?
Its status indicator is C (carrier-priced). Your Medicare Administrative Contractor prices this code case by case, usually after reviewing documentation.
Payment considerations Copy link
Here are the inputs and payment rules that apply to this code. Each link takes you to the detail below.
Other payment indicators (6)
Facility/non-facility: Not determined, Professional/technical component: Does not apply, Global surgery: Does not apply, NCCI same-day edits: Not determined, MUE behavior: Not determined, Other fee-schedule routing: Does not apply.
Why would a Medicare claim for 0494T be denied or paid less?
These come from CMS indicators on this page, not general billing advice.
- Its status indicator is C (carrier-priced)—Your Medicare Administrative Contractor prices this code case by case, usually after reviewing documentation. See status indicators
- Co-surgeons: payable with documentation. See billing policy
- Team surgery: not permitted. See billing policy
- Multiple procedures: standard reduction applies. See billing policy
Payer-specific coverage and documentation rules live outside these files, so a claim that clears every check here can still be denied on other grounds.
Reconciling a contractor-priced payment for 0494T Copy link
There is no national allowed amount for 0494T, so every reconciliation of this line runs against the MAC fee schedule that was in force for the date of service rather than against a national baseline.
What to check
- Compare the paid amount against the MAC fee schedule in force for the date of service; there is no national allowed amount here to reconcile against.
- Rank the claim’s procedure lines before calling a reduced line short-paid—under the standard multiple-procedure rule only the highest-valued one prices in full.
- Check whether a second side was billed separately—the published RVUs already price both sides, so there is no additional amount behind that line.
- Check that any -80 or -AS line was priced from the same release and locality as the primary line; an assistant at surgery prices at a percentage of the fee-schedule amount.
- Reprice the line against the release, locality, setting, modifier and participation status that applied to the date of service before treating any difference as an underpayment.
Codes to compare
National Q3 2019 amounts at GPCI 1.000. A blank means this schedule does not publish a payable PFS amount.
None of the comparison codes are in this release.
Sources: CMS Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Relative Value Files; CMS Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Relative Value Files (status indicator field); CMS Medicare Claims Processing Manual (Pub. 100-04); 42 USC 1395w-4(i)(2) (SSA §1848(i)(2))—Assistants-at-surgery.
Which billing rules and modifiers apply? Copy link
Global period: what 0494T's fee already covers Copy link
The global surgery concept does not apply to this code.
Billing policy Copy link
These billing-policy indicators explain how 0494T is treated. They apply whether the code is nationally priced or carrier-priced: a restriction like "bilateral not allowed" still matters on a carrier-priced code.
| Policy | Value | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Bilateral surgery | 2 | RVUs already reflect bilateral pricing. The published RVUs already account for a bilateral procedure—no additional bilateral adjustment applies on top of the fee schedule amount. |
| Assistant at surgery | 2 | Payable. An assistant at surgery may be separately paid for this procedure, typically as a percentage of the fee schedule amount. |
| Co-surgeons | 1 | Payable with documentation. Co-surgeons may be paid, but only with supporting documentation establishing the medical necessity of two surgeons. |
| Team surgery | 0 | Not permitted. Medicare does not recognize a surgical team (modifier 66) for this procedure. |
| Multiple procedures | 2 | Standard reduction applies. When billed with other procedures on the same date, the highest-valued one is paid at 100% and the next four at 50% each. |
| Professional/technical split | 0 | No PC/TC split. This is a physician service code; the professional/technical split does not apply, and the code is billed as a single service. |
Can you bill it with another code? Copy link
Check a pair of codes Copy link
Enter a second CPT or HCPCS code billed on the same date of service. We'll check the current NCCI procedure-to-procedure edit for the pair.
How has it changed? Copy link
When does this rate change?
CMS publishes a fee schedule release every quarter (January, April, July, October), and each is versioned here. See what changed each release, or get an email when a new release moves rates.
Sources: CMS Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Relative Value Files.
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Source & method
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Contractor amounts come from the MAC-published schedules and effective dates shown above. The PFS file shows this code is priced by the contractor. Past releases are never edited, so these sources stay valid after CMS publishes a newer one. Our methodology explains sourcing, parsing, versioning, and how we cross-check claims before we publish them.
Use the (i) buttons next to each amount above for the exact row, columns, and math.
Cite this rate
The citation names the release, so anyone can check it even after CMS publishes a newer one.
CPT 0494T National PFS baseline: No national PFS rate (Q3 2019; participating; whole service; GPCI 1.000; sequestration excluded). Localis. https://localishealth.com/cpt/0494T/2019/C