Q9003 — Counseling, group, by chaplain services
Q9003 is a HCPCS Level II code for counseling, group, by chaplain services. It belongs to the Temporary Codes 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 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 Q9003 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 Q9003
- Long descriptor
- Counseling, group, by chaplain services
- Short descriptor
- Chaplain counsel group
- Added
- October 1, 2020
- BETOS
- Z2
- Pricing indicator
- 99 — 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.
Value not established.
Codes adjacent to Q9003
HCPCS has no hierarchy — related items simply sit next to each other in the numbering. If Q9003 is not quite right, the correct code is very often within a few positions of it.
- Q5166Injection, denosumab-desu (osvyrti/jubereq), biosimilar, 1 mg
- Q5167Injection, denosumab-qbde (enoby/xtrenbo), biosimilar, 1 mg
- Q5168Injection, ranibizumab-leyk (nufymco), biosimilar, 0.1 mg
- Q5169Injection, pegfilgrastim-unne (armlupeg), biosimilar, 0.5 mg
- Q5170Injection, aflibercept-boav (eydenzelt), biosimilar, 1 mg
- Q5171Injection, denosumab-mobz (boncresa), biosimilar, 1 mg
- Q9001Assessment by chaplain services
- Q9002Counseling, individual, by chaplain services
- Q9004Department of veterans affairs whole health partner services
- Q9950Injection, sulfur hexafluoride lipid microspheres, per ml
- Q9951Low osmolar contrast material, 400 or greater mg/ml iodine concentration, per ml
- Q9953Injection, iron-based magnetic resonance contrast agent, per ml
- Q9954Oral magnetic resonance contrast agent, per 100 ml
- Q9955Injection, perflexane lipid microspheres, per ml
- Q9956Injection, octafluoropropane microspheres, per ml
- Q9957Injection, perflutren lipid microspheres, per ml
Questions about Q9003
What is HCPCS code Q9003?
Q9003 is a HCPCS Level II code for counseling, group, by chaplain services. It sits in the Temporary Codes section.
Does Medicare cover Q9003?
The CMS HCPCS file marks Q9003 as "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.
How is Q9003 paid under the physician fee schedule?
Q9003 carries PFS status code I. Not valid for Medicare purposes. Medicare uses another code.