V5171 — Hearing aid, contralateral routing device, monaural, in the ear (ite)
V5171 is a HCPCS Level II code for hearing aid, contralateral routing device, monaural, in the ear (ite). It belongs to the Vision, Hearing and Speech-Language Pathology section. Medicare does not pay it — see the coverage note below before you bill it.
Medicare coverage: Non-covered by statute
Excluded from coverage by the Social Security Act itself, not by a policy decision. No documentation and no appeal changes this one — an ABN is the relevant conversation.
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 statusN
Non-covered service. Medicare does not cover it.
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 V5171 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
- 0 — never payable MAI 3 — Date of Service Edit: Clinical · CMS Policy
- outpatient
- 0 — never payable 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 V5171
- Long descriptor
- Hearing aid, contralateral routing device, monaural, in the ear (ite)
- Short descriptor
- Hearing aid monaural ite
- Added
- January 1, 2019
- BETOS
- O1F
- 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 V5171
HCPCS has no hierarchy — related items simply sit next to each other in the numbering. If V5171 is not quite right, the correct code is very often within a few positions of it.
- V5100Hearing aid, bilateral, body worn
- V5110Dispensing fee, bilateral
- V5120Binaural, body
- V5130Binaural, in the ear
- V5140Binaural, behind the ear
- V5150Binaural, glasses
- V5160Dispensing fee, binaural
- V5170Hearing aid, cros, in the earterminated
- V5172Hearing aid, contralateral routing device, monaural, in the canal (itc)
- V5180Hearing aid, cros, behind the earterminated
- V5181Hearing aid, contralateral routing device, monaural, behind the ear (bte)
- V5190Hearing aid, contralateral routing, monaural, glasses
- V5200Dispensing fee, contralateral, monaural
- V5210Hearing aid, bicros, in the earterminated
- V5211Hearing aid, contralateral routing system, binaural, ite/ite
- V5212Hearing aid, contralateral routing system, binaural, ite/itc
Questions about V5171
What is HCPCS code V5171?
V5171 is a HCPCS Level II code for hearing aid, contralateral routing device, monaural, in the ear (ite). It sits in the Vision, Hearing and Speech-Language Pathology section.
Does Medicare cover V5171?
The CMS HCPCS file marks V5171 as "Non-covered by statute". Excluded from coverage by the Social Security Act itself, not by a policy decision. No documentation and no appeal changes this one — an ABN is the relevant conversation.
How is V5171 paid under the physician fee schedule?
V5171 carries PFS status code N. Non-covered service. Medicare does not cover it.