49422 Medicaid reimbursement rate by state (2026)
Physician and practitioner services (fee schedule). Medicaid pays a median of $182.67 for 49422 across 50 states, from $55.73 in Rhode Island to $584.36 in Alabama.
- States publishing
- 50
- National median
- $182.67units vary by state
- Lowest
- $55.73Rhode Island
- Highest
- $584.36Alabama
What does Medicaid pay for 49422?
50 state Medicaid programs publish a fee-for-service rate for 49422. The national median is $182.67 (units differ between states). Alabama pays the most, $584.36, and Rhode Island the least, $55.73, a 10.5x spread.
49422 rate by state: highest, middle and lowest
One like-for-like fee-for-service rate per state, ranked. The workspace lists all 50 states with every variant, modifier and effective date.
How to read this table
- Order. States are listed from the highest published rate to the lowest. No single unit is shared by 8 or more states for 49422, so the order is by published amount and is not a like-for-like rank.
- Medicaid rate. The most the state's fee-for-service program pays for one unit, as published. 30 of the 50 states list more than one rate for 49422, by modifier, provider type or setting; the table shows the one that matches the provider level and setting used across states, without add-ons.
- Unit. Of the 50 states, 2 publish 49422 per unit, and 48 schedules print no unit at all (a flat amount per service).
- Per hour. 49422 is not billed in time units in these states, so no hourly figure is shown.
- Managed-care plans. The rule the state sets for its plans on this rate. What each rule means is explained below.
- % of Medicare. No Medicare physician fee schedule amount is on file for 49422, so there is no percentage.
- Source and date. Each Source link opens the state's own document; “since” is the date the rate took effect.
Why 49422 rates differ between states
Published rates for 49422 run from $55.73 in Rhode Island to $584.36 in Alabama, a 10.5x gap in the same unit. Half the states pay more than the median of $182.67 and half pay less. The usual reasons for a spread like this in physician & professional rates:
- Primary-care and pediatric add-ons, enhanced rates for certain specialties and targeted increases for access problems change individual codes without moving the rest of the schedule.
- Each state sets its own physician conversion factor or fee for every code, and many update them on a state budget cycle rather than on Medicare's calendar.
- Some states pay physician services as a percentage of the Medicare fee schedule; others keep a schedule of their own that may not have been rebased for years.
Timing matters too. 33 states set the current rate for 49422 in 2026 or later, while 9 states still pay a rate that took effect in 2022 or earlier. A state that has not updated its rate in years will drift down the ranking as others raise theirs.
What managed-care plans pay for 49422
Most Medicaid members are in managed-care plans, and plans don't publish their provider fee schedules. For 49422, the public signal is the rule each state sets for its plans, recorded on each rate above.
In 10 states, the published rate binds plans: a floor, a pass-through or a state-set rate. In 25 states, plans negotiate and the published rate is a benchmark or out-of-network default. The rule for the remaining 15 states is not classified yet.
- Plans negotiate; the published rate applies out of network (25 states). In-network rates can be above or below the published rate. The published rate is the benchmark both sides know, and the fallback if no contract is signed.
- Plans must pay at least the published rate (10 states). The published rate is your floor. Negotiate up from it, and if a plan pays less, the contract provision is the basis for a payment dispute.
Plan-negotiated rates are never estimated here. To see the rule and its citation for a particular state, open that state's managed-care page, for example Alabama managed care.
Units and billing for 49422
49422 is a CPT surgery code in the physician & professional line, billed mostly by physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other licensed practitioners. Surgical codes are paid once per procedure. The fee can include a global period of related care before and after the procedure, and modifiers for multiple, bilateral or assistant procedures raise or reduce what is actually paid.
Where a state publishes separate facility and non-facility amounts, the non-facility (office) amount is usually higher because the practice carries the overhead. Physician-fee-schedule codes are billed per service: one unit is one occurrence unless the code itself is defined by time or quantity.
Before billing, confirm the rate, unit and any modifier with the state's current schedule or the plan: the amounts here are as published, not a guarantee of payment.
Frequently asked questions
What does Medicaid pay for 49422?
It depends on the state. Of the 50 states with a published fee-for-service rate, the median is $182.67. Alabama pays the most ($584.36) and Rhode Island the least ($55.73).
Which state pays the highest Medicaid rate for 49422?
Alabama, at $584.36, effective 2026-09-24.
Which state pays the lowest Medicaid rate for 49422?
Rhode Island, at $55.73, effective 1995-01-01.
What unit is 49422 billed in?
Of the 50 states, 2 publish 49422 per unit, and 48 schedules print no unit at all (a flat amount per service).
Do managed-care plans pay the same rate for 49422?
Not necessarily. In 10 states, the published rate binds plans: a floor, a pass-through or a state-set rate. In 25 states, plans negotiate and the published rate is a benchmark or out-of-network default. The rule for the remaining 15 states is not classified yet. Each rule is cited to the plan contract, statute or notice in the workspace.