A0998 — Ambulance response and treatment, no transport
A0998 is a HCPCS Level II code for ambulance response and treatment, no transport. It belongs to the Transportation, Medical & Surgical Supplies, Administrative section. Medicare does not pay it — see the coverage note below before you bill it.
Medicare coverage: Not payable by Medicare
Medicare does not pay this code. It may still be valid for another payer, but a Medicare claim carrying it will not be reimbursed.
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 statusI
Not valid for Medicare purposes. Medicare uses another code.
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 A0998 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
- 0 — never payable MAI 3 — Date of Service Edit: Clinical · CMS Policy
- outpatient
- 0 — never payable MAI 3 — Date of Service Edit: Clinical · CMS Policy
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 A0998
- Long descriptor
- Ambulance response and treatment, no transport
- Short descriptor
- Ambulance response/treatment
- Added
- January 1, 2006
- BETOS
- O1A
- Pricing indicator
- 00 — Not priced by Part B
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.
Service not separately priced by Part B — not covered, bundled into another service, or used by Part A only.
Codes adjacent to A0998
HCPCS has no hierarchy — related items simply sit next to each other in the numbering. If A0998 is not quite right, the correct code is very often within a few positions of it.
- 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
- A0888Noncovered ambulance mileage, per mile (e.g., for miles traveled beyond closest appropriate facility)
- A0999Unlisted ambulance service
- A2001Innovamatrix ac, per square centimeter (add-on, list separately in addition to primary procedure)
- A2002Mirragen advanced wound matrix, per square centimeter (add-on, list separately in addition to primary procedure)
- A2004Xcellistem, 1 mg
- A2005Microlyte matrix, per square centimeter (add-on, list separately in addition to primary procedure)
- A2006Novosorb synpath dermal matrix, per square centimeter (add-on, list separately in addition to primary procedure)
- A2007Restrata, per square centimeter (add-on, list separately in addition to primary procedure)
- A2008Theragenesis, per square centimeter (add-on, list separately in addition to primary procedure)
Questions about A0998
What is HCPCS code A0998?
A0998 is a HCPCS Level II code for ambulance response and treatment, no transport. It sits in the Transportation, Medical & Surgical Supplies, Administrative section.
Does Medicare cover A0998?
The CMS HCPCS file marks A0998 as "Not payable by Medicare". Medicare does not pay this code. It may still be valid for another payer, but a Medicare claim carrying it will not be reimbursed.
How is A0998 paid under the physician fee schedule?
A0998 carries PFS status code I. Not valid for Medicare purposes. Medicare uses another code.