J1642 — Injection, heparin sodium, (heparin lock flush), per 10 units
J1642 is a HCPCS Level II code for injection, heparin sodium, (heparin lock flush), per 10 units. It belongs to the Drugs Administered Other Than Oral Method 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 2026Q3-Jul. This states Medicare’s position on the code, not on your particular claim.
Physician fee schedule statusE
Excluded from the physician fee schedule by regulation. Payment, where it exists, comes from another fee schedule (drugs via ASP, supplies via DMEPOS, and so on).
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 J1642 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
- 100 units MAI 3 — Date of Service Edit: Clinical · Clinical: Data
- outpatient
- 150 units MAI 3 — Date of Service Edit: Clinical · Clinical: Data
- DME supplier
- 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 J1642
- Long descriptor
- Injection, heparin sodium, (heparin lock flush), per 10 units
- Short descriptor
- Inj heparin sodium per 10 u
- Added
- January 1, 1995
- BETOS
- O1E
- Pricing indicator
- 51 — 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.
Drugs.
Codes adjacent to J1642
HCPCS has no hierarchy — related items simply sit next to each other in the numbering. If J1642 is not quite right, the correct code is very often within a few positions of it.
- J1620Injection, gonadorelin hydrochloride, per 100 mcgterminated
- J1626Injection, granisetron hydrochloride, 100 mcg
- J1627Injection, granisetron, extended-release, 0.1 mg
- J1628Injection, guselkumab, 1 mg
- J1630Injection, haloperidol, up to 5 mg
- J1631Injection, haloperidol decanoate, per 50 mg
- J1632Injection, brexanolone, 1 mg
- J1640Injection, hemin, 1 mg
- J1643Injection, heparin sodium (pfizer), not therapeutically equivalent to j1644, per 1000 units
- J1644Injection, heparin sodium, per 1000 units
- J1645Injection, dalteparin sodium, per 2500 iu
- J1650Injection, enoxaparin sodium, 10 mg
- J1652Injection, fondaparinux sodium, 0.5 mg
- J1655Injection, tinzaparin sodium, 1000 iuterminated
- J1670Injection, tetanus immune globulin, human, up to 250 units
- J1675Injection, histrelin acetate, 10 micrograms
Questions about J1642
What is HCPCS code J1642?
J1642 is a HCPCS Level II code for injection, heparin sodium, (heparin lock flush), per 10 units. It sits in the Drugs Administered Other Than Oral Method section.
Does Medicare cover J1642?
The CMS HCPCS file marks J1642 as "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.
How is J1642 paid under the physician fee schedule?
J1642 carries PFS status code E. Excluded from the physician fee schedule by regulation. Payment, where it exists, comes from another fee schedule (drugs via ASP, supplies via DMEPOS, and so on).