H0053 — Historical trauma (ht) mental health and clinical care for indigenous persons
H0053 is a HCPCS Level II code for historical trauma (ht) mental health and clinical care for indigenous persons. 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
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 H0053 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
- 1 unit MAI 3 — Date of Service Edit: Clinical · Nature of Service/Procedure
- outpatient
- 1 unit MAI 3 — Date of Service Edit: Clinical · Nature of Service/Procedure
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 H0053
- Long descriptor
- Historical trauma (ht) mental health and clinical care for indigenous persons
- Short descriptor
- Ht mental health and care
- Added
- January 1, 2025
- 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 H0053
HCPCS has no hierarchy — related items simply sit next to each other in the numbering. If H0053 is not quite right, the correct code is very often within a few positions of it.
- 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
- H0050Alcohol and/or drug services, brief intervention, per 15 minutes
- H0051Traditional healing service
- H0052Missing and murdered indigenous persons (mmip) mental health and clinical care
- 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
- H1005Prenatal care, at-risk enhanced service package (includes h1001-h1004)
- H1010Non-medical family planning education, per session
- H1011Family assessment by licensed behavioral health professional for state defined purposes
Questions about H0053
What is HCPCS code H0053?
H0053 is a HCPCS Level II code for historical trauma (ht) mental health and clinical care for indigenous persons. It sits in the Behavioral Health and Substance Abuse Treatment section.
Does Medicare cover H0053?
The CMS HCPCS file marks H0053 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 H0053 paid under the physician fee schedule?
H0053 carries PFS status code I. Not valid for Medicare purposes. Medicare uses another code.