MCMedicalCodingSoftware
J2596

J2596: Injection, vasopressin (long grove), not therapeutically equivalent to j2598, 1 unit

HCPCSActiveBETOS O1E

J2596 is a HCPCS Level II code for injection, vasopressin (long grove), not therapeutically equivalent to j2598, 1 unit. It belongs to the Drugs Administered Other Than Oral Method 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 2026Q4-Oct. 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 J2596 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
160 units
MAI 3: Date of Service Edit: Clinical · Prescribing Information
outpatient
160 units
MAI 3: Date of Service Edit: Clinical · Prescribing Information
DME supplier
160 units
MAI 3: Date of Service Edit: Clinical · Prescribing Information

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 J2596

Long descriptor
Injection, vasopressin (long grove), not therapeutically equivalent to j2598, 1 unit

The official wording. This is what the code means.

Short descriptor
Vasopressin (long grove) 1 u

CMS's 28-character form, which is what shows up on a remittance advice.

Added
January 1, 2026

When CMS introduced the code.

BETOS
O1E

Berenson-Eggers Type of Service: CMS's own analytic grouping.

Pricing indicator
51: Other

Drugs.

Codes adjacent to J2596

HCPCS has no hierarchy: related items simply sit next to each other in the numbering. If J2596 is not quite right, the correct code is very often within a few positions of it.

  • J2543Injection, piperacillin sodium/tazobactam sodium, 1 gram/0.125 grams (1.125 grams)
  • J2545Pentamidine isethionate, inhalation solution, fda-approved final product, non-compounded, administered through dme, unit dose form, per 300 mg
  • J2547Injection, peramivir, 1 mg
  • J2550Injection, promethazine hcl, up to 50 mg
  • J2560Injection, phenobarbital sodium, up to 120 mg
  • J2561Injection, phenobarbital sodium (sezaby), 1 mg
  • J2562Injection, plerixafor, 1 mg
  • J2590Injection, oxytocin, up to 10 units
  • J2597Injection, desmopressin acetate, per 1 mcg
  • J2598Injection, vasopressin, 1 unit
  • J2599Injection, vasopressin (american regent), not therapeutically equivalent to j2598, 1 unit
  • J2601Injection, vasopressin (baxter), 1 unit
  • J2650Injection, prednisolone acetate, up to 1 ml
  • J2670Injection, tolazoline hcl, up to 25 mg
  • J2675Injection, progesterone, per 50 mg
  • J2679Injection, fluphenazine hcl, 1.25 mg
HCPCS Level II2026Q4-Oct· effective October 1, 2026