C8906: Magnetic resonance imaging with contrast, breast; bilateral
C8906 is a HCPCS Level II code for magnetic resonance imaging with contrast, breast; bilateral. It belongs to the Outpatient Prospective Payment System 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.
Medically Unlikely Edits: units per day
The most units of C8906 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
- 1 unit MAI 3: Date of Service Edit: Clinical · Code Descriptor / CPT Instruction
- outpatient
- 1 unit MAI 3: Date of Service Edit: Clinical · Code Descriptor / CPT Instruction
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 C8906
- Long descriptor
- Magnetic resonance imaging with contrast, breast; bilateral
- Short descriptor
- Mri w/cont, breast, bi
- Added
- October 1, 2001
- BETOS
- I2D
- Pricing indicator
- 53: 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.
Statute.
Codes adjacent to C8906
HCPCS has no hierarchy: related items simply sit next to each other in the numbering. If C8906 is not quite right, the correct code is very often within a few positions of it.
- C8013Removal of hypoglossal nerve(s) neurostimulator electrode array(s) and receiver
- C8014Cystourethroscopy, with ureteroscopy and/or pyeloscopy, with lithotripsy, including use of a suction enabled ureteral access sheath, with irrigation (if performed)
- C8900Magnetic resonance angiography with contrast, abdomen
- C8901Magnetic resonance angiography without contrast, abdomen
- C8902Magnetic resonance angiography without contrast followed by with contrast, abdomen
- C8903Magnetic resonance imaging with contrast, breast; unilateral
- C8904Magnetic resonance imaging without contrast, breast; unilateralterminated
- C8905Magnetic resonance imaging without contrast followed by with contrast, breast; unilateral
- C8907Magnetic resonance imaging without contrast, breast; bilateralterminated
- C8908Magnetic resonance imaging without contrast followed by with contrast, breast; bilateral
- C8909Magnetic resonance angiography with contrast, chest (excluding myocardium)
- C8910Magnetic resonance angiography without contrast, chest (excluding myocardium)
- C8911Magnetic resonance angiography without contrast followed by with contrast, chest (excluding myocardium)
- C8912Magnetic resonance angiography with contrast, lower extremity
- C8913Magnetic resonance angiography without contrast, lower extremity
- C8914Magnetic resonance angiography without contrast followed by with contrast, lower extremity