Q9950 — Injection, sulfur hexafluoride lipid microspheres, per ml
Q9950 is a HCPCS Level II code for injection, sulfur hexafluoride lipid microspheres, per ml. 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 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 Q9950 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
- 5 units MAI 3 — Date of Service Edit: Clinical · CMS Policy
- outpatient
- 5 units MAI 3 — Date of Service Edit: Clinical · CMS Policy
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 Q9950
- Long descriptor
- Injection, sulfur hexafluoride lipid microspheres, per ml
- Short descriptor
- Inj sulf hexa lipid microsph
- Added
- January 1, 2016
- BETOS
- I1F
- Pricing indicator
- 57 — 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.
Other carrier priced.
Codes adjacent to Q9950
HCPCS has no hierarchy — related items simply sit next to each other in the numbering. If Q9950 is not quite right, the correct code is very often within a few positions of it.
- 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
- Q9003Counseling, group, by chaplain services
- Q9004Department of veterans affairs whole health partner services
- 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
- Q9958High osmolar contrast material, up to 149 mg/ml iodine concentration, per ml
- Q9959High osmolar contrast material, 150-199 mg/ml iodine concentration, per ml
Questions about Q9950
What is HCPCS code Q9950?
Q9950 is a HCPCS Level II code for injection, sulfur hexafluoride lipid microspheres, per ml. It sits in the Temporary Codes section.
Does Medicare cover Q9950?
The CMS HCPCS file marks Q9950 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 Q9950 paid under the physician fee schedule?
Q9950 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).