E0255: Hospital bed, variable height, hi-lo, with any type side rails, with mattress
E0255 is a HCPCS Level II code for hospital bed, variable height, hi-lo, with any type side rails, with mattress. It belongs to the Durable Medical Equipment 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 E0255 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
- DME supplier
- 1 unit MAI 2: Date of Service Edit: Policy · 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 E0255
- Long descriptor
- Hospital bed, variable height, hi-lo, with any type side rails, with mattress
- Short descriptor
- Hospital bed var ht w/ mattr
- Added
- January 1, 1986
- BETOS
- D1B
- Pricing indicator
- 36: 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.
Capped rental DME. Price subject to floors and ceilings.
Codes adjacent to E0255
HCPCS has no hierarchy: related items simply sit next to each other in the numbering. If E0255 is not quite right, the correct code is very often within a few positions of it.
- E0244Raised toilet seat
- E0245Tub stool or bench
- E0246Transfer tub rail attachment
- E0247Transfer bench for tub or toilet with or without commode opening
- E0248Transfer bench, heavy duty, for tub or toilet with or without commode opening
- E0249Pad for water circulating heat unit, for replacement only
- E0250Hospital bed, fixed height, with any type side rails, with mattress
- E0251Hospital bed, fixed height, with any type side rails, without mattress
- E0256Hospital bed, variable height, hi-lo, with any type side rails, without mattress
- E0260Hospital bed, semi-electric (head and foot adjustment), with any type side rails, with mattress
- E0261Hospital bed, semi-electric (head and foot adjustment), with any type side rails, without mattress
- E0265Hospital bed, total electric (head, foot and height adjustments), with any type side rails, with mattress
- E0266Hospital bed, total electric (head, foot and height adjustments), with any type side rails, without mattress
- E0270Hospital bed, institutional type includes: oscillating, circulating and stryker frame, with mattress
- E0271Mattress, innerspring
- E0272Mattress, foam rubber