MCMedicalCodingSoftware
J8541

J8541: Dexamethasone (hemady), oral, 0.25 mg

HCPCSActiveBETOS O1E

J8541 is a HCPCS Level II code for dexamethasone (hemady), oral, 0.25 mg. 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 J8541 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.

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 J8541

Long descriptor
Dexamethasone (hemady), oral, 0.25 mg

The official wording. This is what the code means.

Short descriptor
Oral, hemady, 0.25 mg

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

Added
October 1, 2024

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 J8541

HCPCS has no hierarchy: related items simply sit next to each other in the numbering. If J8541 is not quite right, the correct code is very often within a few positions of it.

  • J8502Injection, aprepitant (aponvie), 1 mg
  • J8510Busulfan; oral, 2 mg
  • J8515Cabergoline, oral, 0.25 mg
  • J8520Capecitabine, oral, 150 mgterminated
  • J8521Capecitabine, oral, 500 mgterminated
  • J8522Capecitabine, oral, 50 mg
  • J8530Cyclophosphamide; oral, 25 mg
  • J8540Dexamethasone, oral, 0.25 mg
  • J8560Etoposide; oral, 50 mg
  • J8562Fludarabine phosphate, oral, 10 mgterminated
  • J8565Gefitinib, oral, 250 mg
  • J8597Antiemetic drug, oral, not otherwise specified
  • J8600Melphalan; oral, 2 mg
  • J8610Methotrexate; oral, 2.5 mg
  • J8611Methotrexate (jylamvo), oral, 2.5 mg
  • J8612Methotrexate (xatmep), oral, 2.5 mg
HCPCS Level II2026Q4-Oct· effective October 1, 2026