J2003 — Injection, lidocaine hydrochloride, 1 mg
J2003 is a HCPCS Level II code for injection, lidocaine hydrochloride, 1 mg. It belongs to the Drugs Administered Other Than Oral Method section. Whether Medicare pays it depends on the coverage rule below.
Medicare coverage: Special coverage instructions apply
There are published conditions attached to this code. Check the applicable coverage policy before billing it: the code being valid is not the same as the service being covered.
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 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 J2003 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
- 300 units MAI 3 — Date of Service Edit: Clinical · Clinical: CMS Workgroup
- outpatient
- 300 units MAI 3 — Date of Service Edit: Clinical · Clinical: CMS Workgroup
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 J2003
- Long descriptor
- Injection, lidocaine hydrochloride, 1 mg
- Short descriptor
- Inj, lidocaine hcl, 1 mg
- Added
- October 1, 2024
- BETOS
- O1E
- Pricing indicator
- 51 — Other
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.
Drugs.
Codes adjacent to J2003
HCPCS has no hierarchy — related items simply sit next to each other in the numbering. If J2003 is not quite right, the correct code is very often within a few positions of it.
- J1955Injection, levocarnitine, per 1 gm
- J1956Injection, levofloxacin, 250 mg
- J1960Injection, levorphanol tartrate, up to 2 mg
- J1961Injection, lenacapavir (only for use as hiv treatment), 1 mg
- J1980Injection, hyoscyamine sulfate, up to 0.25 mg
- J1990Injection, chlordiazepoxide hcl, up to 100 mg
- J2001Injection, lidocaine hcl for intravenous infusion, 10 mgterminated
- J2002Injection, lidocaine hcl in 5% dextrose, 1 mg
- J2004Injection, lidocaine hcl with epinephrine, 1 mg
- J2010Injection, lincomycin hcl, up to 300 mg
- J2020Injection, linezolid, 200 mg
- J2021Injection, linezolid (hospira), not therapeutically equivalent to j2020, 200 mg
- J2060Injection, lorazepam, 2 mg
- J2062Loxapine for inhalation, 1 mg
- J2150Injection, mannitol, 25% in 50 mlterminated
- J2151Injection, mannitol, 250 mg
Questions about J2003
What is HCPCS code J2003?
J2003 is a HCPCS Level II code for injection, lidocaine hydrochloride, 1 mg. It sits in the Drugs Administered Other Than Oral Method section.
Does Medicare cover J2003?
The CMS HCPCS file marks J2003 as "Special coverage instructions apply". There are published conditions attached to this code. Check the applicable coverage policy before billing it: the code being valid is not the same as the service being covered.
How is J2003 paid under the physician fee schedule?
J2003 carries PFS status code E. 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).