A0428 — Ambulance service, basic life support, non-emergency transport, (bls)
A0428 is a HCPCS Level II code for ambulance service, basic life support, non-emergency transport, (bls). It belongs to the Transportation, Medical & Surgical Supplies, Administrative section. Whether Medicare pays it depends on the coverage rule below.
Medicare coverage: Carrier judgment
Coverage is decided by your Medicare contractor, not by national policy. Whether this is paid depends on the LCD for your jurisdiction and on what the documentation supports.
From the coverage field of the CMS Alpha-Numeric HCPCS File, release 2026Q3-Jul. This states Medicare’s position on the code, not on your particular claim.
Physician fee schedule statusX
Statutory exclusion. The item or service is not within the statutory definition of 'physician services', so the fee schedule never pays it.
Global period: XXX
Want the dollar amount for your locality? The fee calculator applies your GPCI and the current conversion factor.
Medically Unlikely Edits — units per day
The most units of A0428 Medicare will pay on one date of service. Bill more on a single line and it is denied. The limit is not the same in every setting, so the row that matters is the one matching the claim you are building.
- practitioner
- 2 units MAI 3 — Date of Service Edit: Clinical · Clinical: Data
- outpatient
- 2 units MAI 3 — Date of Service Edit: Clinical · Clinical: Data
The adjudication indicator decides whether exceeding the limit is worth appealing at all: MAI 1 is a line edit you can support with documentation, MAI 3 is a date-of-service edit that is also appealable, and MAI 2 is absolute — no documentation overrides it. CMS MUE 2026Q3.
The CMS record for A0428
- Long descriptor
- Ambulance service, basic life support, non-emergency transport, (bls)
- Short descriptor
- Bls
- Added
- January 1, 2001
- BETOS
- O1A
- Pricing indicator
- 52 — Other
The official wording. This is what the code means.
CMS's 28-character form, which is what shows up on a remittance advice.
When CMS introduced the code.
Berenson-Eggers Type of Service — CMS's own analytic grouping.
Reasonable charge.
Codes adjacent to A0428
HCPCS has no hierarchy — related items simply sit next to each other in the numbering. If A0428 is not quite right, the correct code is very often within a few positions of it.
- A0396Als specialized service disposable supplies; esophageal intubation
- A0398Als routine disposable supplies
- A0420Ambulance waiting time (als or bls), one half (1/2) hour increments
- A0422Ambulance (als or bls) oxygen and oxygen supplies, life sustaining situation
- A0424Extra ambulance attendant, ground (als or bls) or air (fixed or rotary winged); (requires medical review)
- A0425Ground mileage, per statute mile
- A0426Ambulance service, advanced life support, non-emergency transport, level 1 (als 1)
- A0427Ambulance service, advanced life support, emergency transport, level 1 (als 1 - emergency)
- A0429Ambulance service, basic life support, emergency transport (bls-emergency)
- A0430Ambulance service, conventional air services, transport, one way (fixed wing)
- A0431Ambulance service, conventional air services, transport, one way (rotary wing)
- A0432Paramedic intercept (pi), rural area, transport furnished by a volunteer ambulance company which is prohibited by state law from billing third party payers
- A0433Advanced life support, level 2 (als 2)
- A0434Specialty care transport (sct)
- A0435Fixed wing air mileage, per statute mile
- A0436Rotary wing air mileage, per statute mile
Questions about A0428
What is HCPCS code A0428?
A0428 is a HCPCS Level II code for ambulance service, basic life support, non-emergency transport, (bls). It sits in the Transportation, Medical & Surgical Supplies, Administrative section.
Does Medicare cover A0428?
The CMS HCPCS file marks A0428 as "Carrier judgment". Coverage is decided by your Medicare contractor, not by national policy. Whether this is paid depends on the LCD for your jurisdiction and on what the documentation supports.
How is A0428 paid under the physician fee schedule?
A0428 carries PFS status code X. Statutory exclusion. The item or service is not within the statutory definition of 'physician services', so the fee schedule never pays it.