H0050 — Alcohol and/or drug services, brief intervention, per 15 minutes
H0050 is a HCPCS Level II code for alcohol and/or drug services, brief intervention, per 15 minutes. It belongs to the Behavioral Health and Substance Abuse Treatment section. Medicare does not pay it — see the coverage note below before you bill it.
Medicare coverage: Not payable by Medicare
Medicare does not pay this code. It may still be valid for another payer, but a Medicare claim carrying it will not be reimbursed.
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 statusI
Not valid for Medicare purposes. Medicare uses another code.
Global period: XXX
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The CMS record for H0050
- Long descriptor
- Alcohol and/or drug services, brief intervention, per 15 minutes
- Short descriptor
- Alcohol/drug service 15 min
- Added
- January 1, 2007
- BETOS
- Z2
- 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 H0050
HCPCS has no hierarchy — related items simply sit next to each other in the numbering. If H0050 is not quite right, the correct code is very often within a few positions of it.
- H0042Foster care, child, non-therapeutic, per month
- H0043Supported housing, per diem
- H0044Supported housing, per month
- H0045Respite care services, not in the home, per diem
- H0046Mental health services, not otherwise specified
- H0047Alcohol and/or other drug abuse services, not otherwise specified
- H0048Alcohol and/or other drug testing: collection and handling only, specimens other than blood
- H0049Alcohol and/or drug screening
- H0051Traditional healing service
- H0052Missing and murdered indigenous persons (mmip) mental health and clinical care
- H0053Historical trauma (ht) mental health and clinical care for indigenous persons
- H1000Prenatal care, at-risk assessment
- H1001Prenatal care, at-risk enhanced service; antepartum management
- H1002Prenatal care, at risk enhanced service; care coordination
- H1003Prenatal care, at-risk enhanced service; education
- H1004Prenatal care, at-risk enhanced service; follow-up home visit
Questions about H0050
What is HCPCS code H0050?
H0050 is a HCPCS Level II code for alcohol and/or drug services, brief intervention, per 15 minutes. It sits in the Behavioral Health and Substance Abuse Treatment section.
Does Medicare cover H0050?
The CMS HCPCS file marks H0050 as "Not payable by Medicare". Medicare does not pay this code. It may still be valid for another payer, but a Medicare claim carrying it will not be reimbursed.
How is H0050 paid under the physician fee schedule?
H0050 carries PFS status code I. Not valid for Medicare purposes. Medicare uses another code.