J3535: Drug administered through a metered dose inhaler
J3535 is a HCPCS Level II code for drug administered through a metered dose inhaler. It belongs to the Drugs Administered Other Than Oral Method section. Medicare does not pay it: see the coverage note below before you bill it.
Medicare coverage: Non-covered by Medicare
Medicare does not cover the item or service this code describes.
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 statusN
Non-covered service. Medicare does not cover 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 J3535 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
- 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 2026Q4.
The CMS record for J3535
- Long descriptor
- Drug administered through a metered dose inhaler
- Short descriptor
- Metered dose inhaler drug
- Added
- January 1, 1994
- BETOS
- O1E
- 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 J3535
HCPCS has no hierarchy: related items simply sit next to each other in the numbering. If J3535 is not quite right, the correct code is very often within a few positions of it.
- J3475Injection, magnesium sulfate, per 500 mg
- J3480Injection, potassium chloride, per 2 meq
- J3485Injection, zidovudine, 10 mg
- J3486Injection, ziprasidone mesylate, 10 mg
- J3489Injection, zoledronic acid, 1 mg
- J3490Unclassified drugs
- J3520Edetate disodium, per 150 mg
- J3530Nasal vaccine inhalation
- J3570Laetrile, amygdalin, vitamin b17
- J3590Unclassified biologics
- J3591Unclassified drug or biological used for esrd on dialysis
- J7030Infusion, normal saline solution , 1000 cc
- J7040Infusion, normal saline solution, sterile (500 ml = 1 unit)
- J70425% dextrose/normal saline (500 ml = 1 unit)
- J7050Infusion, normal saline solution, 250 cc
- J70605% dextrose/water (500 ml = 1 unit)