A5051: Ostomy pouch, closed; with barrier attached (1 piece), each
A5051 is a HCPCS Level II code for ostomy pouch, closed; with barrier attached (1 piece), each. It belongs to the Transportation, Medical & Surgical Supplies, Administrative section. Whether Medicare pays it depends on the coverage rule below.
Medicare coverage: Special coverage instructions apply
There are published conditions attached to this code. Check the applicable coverage policy before billing it: the code being valid is not the same as the service being covered.
From the coverage field of the CMS Alpha-Numeric HCPCS File, release 2026Q4-Oct. This states Medicare’s position on the code, not on your particular claim.
Physician fee schedule statusP
Bundled or excluded. No RVUs and no payment: either bundled into another service or paid under a different provision of the Act.
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 A5051 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
- 1 unit 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 2026Q4.
The CMS record for A5051
- Long descriptor
- Ostomy pouch, closed; with barrier attached (1 piece), each
- Short descriptor
- Pouch clsd w barr attached
- Added
- January 1, 1990
- BETOS
- D1F
- Pricing indicator
- 37: DMEPOS
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.
Ostomy, tracheostomy and urological supplies. Price subject to floors and ceilings.
Codes adjacent to A5051
HCPCS has no hierarchy: related items simply sit next to each other in the numbering. If A5051 is not quite right, the correct code is very often within a few positions of it.
- A4913Miscellaneous dialysis supplies, not otherwise specified
- A4918Venous pressure clamp, for hemodialysis, each
- A4927Gloves, non-sterile, per 100
- A4928Surgical mask, per 20
- A4929Tourniquet for dialysis, each
- A4930Gloves, sterile, per pair
- A4931Oral thermometer, reusable, any type, each
- A4932Rectal thermometer, reusable, any type, each
- A5052Ostomy pouch, closed; without barrier attached (1 piece), each
- A5053Ostomy pouch, closed; for use on faceplate, each
- A5054Ostomy pouch, closed; for use on barrier with flange (2 piece), each
- A5055Stoma cap
- A5056Ostomy pouch, drainable, with extended wear barrier attached, with filter, (1 piece), each
- A5057Ostomy pouch, drainable, with extended wear barrier attached, with built in convexity, with filter, (1 piece), each
- A5061Ostomy pouch, drainable; with barrier attached, (1 piece), each
- A5062Ostomy pouch, drainable; without barrier attached (1 piece), each