G0496 — Skilled services of a licensed practical nurse (lpn), in the training and/or education of a patient or family member, in the home health or hospice setting, each 15 minutes
G0496 is a HCPCS Level II code for skilled services of a licensed practical nurse (lpn), in the training and/or education of a patient or family member, in the home health or hospice setting, each 15 minutes. It belongs to the Procedures and Professional Services (Temporary) 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 G0496 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 · Clinical: CMS Workgroup
- outpatient
- 1 unit MAI 3 — Date of Service Edit: Clinical · Clinical: CMS Workgroup
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 G0496
- Long descriptor
- Skilled services of a licensed practical nurse (lpn), in the training and/or education of a patient or family member, in the home health or hospice setting, each 15 minutes
- Short descriptor
- Lpn care train/edu in hh
- Added
- January 1, 2017
- BETOS
- Y2
- 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 G0496
HCPCS has no hierarchy — related items simply sit next to each other in the numbering. If G0496 is not quite right, the correct code is very often within a few positions of it.
- G0482Drug test(s), definitive, utilizing (1) drug identification methods able to identify individual drugs and distinguish between structural isomers (but not necessarily stereoisomers), including, but not limited to gc/ms (any type, single or tandem) and lc/ms (any type, single or tandem and excluding immunoassays (e.g., ia, eia, elisa, emit, fpia) and enzymatic methods (e.g., alcohol dehydrogenase)), (2) stable isotope or other universally recognized internal standards in all samples (e.g., to control for matrix effects, interferences and variations in signal strength), and (3) method or drug-specific calibration and matrix-matched quality control material (e.g., to control for instrument variations and mass spectral drift); qualitative or quantitative, all sources, includes specimen validity testing, per day; 15-21 drug class(es), including metabolite(s) if performed
- G0483Drug test(s), definitive, utilizing (1) drug identification methods able to identify individual drugs and distinguish between structural isomers (but not necessarily stereoisomers), including, but not limited to gc/ms (any type, single or tandem) and lc/ms (any type, single or tandem and excluding immunoassays (e.g., ia, eia, elisa, emit, fpia) and enzymatic methods (e.g., alcohol dehydrogenase)), (2) stable isotope or other universally recognized internal standards in all samples (e.g., to control for matrix effects, interferences and variations in signal strength), and (3) method or drug-specific calibration and matrix-matched quality control material (e.g., to control for instrument variations and mass spectral drift); qualitative or quantitative, all sources, includes specimen validity testing, per day; 22 or more drug class(es), including metabolite(s) if performed
- G0490Face-to-face home health nursing visit by a rural health clinic (rhc) or federally qualified health center (fqhc) in an area with a shortage of home health agencies; (services limited to rn or lpn only)
- G0491Dialysis procedure at a medicare certified esrd facility for acute kidney injury without esrd
- G0492Dialysis procedure with single evaluation by a physician or other qualified health care professional for acute kidney injury without esrd
- G0493Skilled services of a registered nurse (rn) for the observation and assessment of the patient's condition, each 15 minutes (the change in the patient's condition requires skilled nursing personnel to identify and evaluate the patient's need for possible modification of treatment in the home health or hospice setting)
- G0494Skilled services of a licensed practical nurse (lpn) for the observation and assessment of the patient's condition, each 15 minutes (the change in the patient's condition requires skilled nursing personnel to identify and evaluate the patient's need for possible modification of treatment in the home health or hospice setting)
- G0495Skilled services of a registered nurse (rn), in the training and/or education of a patient or family member, in the home health or hospice setting, each 15 minutes
- G0498Chemotherapy administration, intravenous infusion technique; initiation of infusion in the office/clinic setting using office/clinic pump/supplies, with continuation of the infusion in the community setting (e.g., home, domiciliary, rest home or assisted living) using a portable pump provided by the office/clinic, includes follow up office/clinic visit at the conclusion of the infusion
- G0499Hepatitis b screening in non-pregnant, high risk individual includes hepatitis b surface antigen (hbsag), antibodies to hbsag (anti-hbs) and antibodies to hepatitis b core antigen (anti-hbc), and is followed by a neutralizing confirmatory test, when performed, only for an initially reactive hbsag result
- G0500Moderate sedation services provided by the same physician or other qualified health care professional performing a gastrointestinal endoscopic service that sedation supports, requiring the presence of an independent trained observer to assist in the monitoring of the patient's level of consciousness and physiological status; initial 15 minutes of intra-service time; patient age 5 years or older (additional time may be reported with 99153, as appropriate)
- G0501Resource-intensive services for patients for whom the use of specialized mobility-assistive technology (such as adjustable height chairs or tables, patient lift, and adjustable padded leg supports) is medically necessary and used during the provision of an office/outpatient, evaluation and management visit (list separately in addition to primary service)
- G0502Initial psychiatric collaborative care management, first 70 minutes in the first calendar month of behavioral health care manager activities, in consultation with a psychiatric consultant, and directed by the treating physician or other qualified health care professional, with the following required elements: outreach to and engagement in treatment of a patient directed by the treating physician or other qualified health care professional; initial assessment of the patient, including administration of validated rating scales, with the development of an individualized treatment plan; review by the psychiatric consultant with modifications of the plan if recommended; entering patient in a registry and tracking patient follow-up and progress using the registry, with appropriate documentation, and participation in weekly caseload consultation with the psychiatric consultant; and provision of brief interventions using evidence-based techniques such as behavioral activation, motivational interviewing, and other focused treatment strategiesterminated
- G0503Subsequent psychiatric collaborative care management, first 60 minutes in a subsequent month of behavioral health care manager activities, in consultation with a psychiatric consultant, and directed by the treating physician or other qualified health care professional, with the following required elements: tracking patient follow-up and progress using the registry, with appropriate documentation; participation in weekly caseload consultation with the psychiatric consultant; ongoing collaboration with and coordination of the patient's mental health care with the treating physician or other qualified health care professional and any other treating mental health providers; additional review of progress and recommendations for changes in treatment, as indicated, including medications, based on recommendations provided by the psychiatric consultant; provision of brief interventions using evidence-based techniques such as behavioral activation, motivational interviewing, and other focused treatment strategies; monitoring of patient outcomes using validated rating scales; and relapse prevention planning with patients as they achieve remission of symptoms and/or other treatment goals and are prepared for discharge from active treatmentterminated
- G0504Initial or subsequent psychiatric collaborative care management, each additional 30 minutes in a calendar month of behavioral health care manager activities, in consultation with a psychiatric consultant, and directed by the treating physician or other qualified health care professional (list separately in addition to code for primary procedure); (use g0504 in conjunction with g0502, g0503)terminated
- G0505Cognition and functional assessment using standardized instruments with development of recorded care plan for the patient with cognitive impairment, history obtained from patient and/or caregiver, in office or other outpatient setting or home or domiciliary or rest hometerminated
Questions about G0496
What is HCPCS code G0496?
G0496 is a HCPCS Level II code for skilled services of a licensed practical nurse (lpn), in the training and/or education of a patient or family member, in the home health or hospice setting, each 15 minutes. It sits in the Procedures and Professional Services (Temporary) section.
Does Medicare cover G0496?
The CMS HCPCS file marks G0496 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 G0496 paid under the physician fee schedule?
G0496 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.