99220 Medicaid reimbursement rate by state (2026)
Physician and practitioner services (fee schedule). Medicaid pays a median of $127.54 for 99220 across 10 states, from $30.30 in New York to $177.75 in Alabama.
- States publishing
- 10
- National median
- $127.54units vary by state
- Lowest
- $30.30New York
- Highest
- $177.75Alabama
What does Medicaid pay for 99220?
10 state Medicaid programs publish a fee-for-service rate for 99220. The national median is $127.54 (units differ between states). Alabama pays the most, $177.75, and New York the least, $30.30 per unit, a 5.9x spread.
99220 rate by state: highest, middle and lowest
One like-for-like fee-for-service rate per state, ranked. The workspace lists all 10 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 99220, 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. 5 of the 10 states list more than one rate for 99220, 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 10 states, 1 publish 99220 per unit, and 9 schedules print no unit at all (a flat amount per service).
- Per hour. 99220 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 99220, 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 99220 rates differ between states
Published rates for 99220 run from $30.30 in New York to $177.75 in Alabama. The two publish it in different units (no unit printed versus unit), so part of that gap is the unit rather than the price. Half the states pay more than the median of $127.54 and half pay less. The usual reasons for a spread like this in physician & professional rates:
- Many schedules pay differently by place of service (office versus facility) and by practitioner, and nurse practitioners and physician assistants are often paid a percentage of the physician amount.
- Modifiers such as professional or technical component, bilateral, multiple procedure and assistant at surgery change the amount paid, and states apply them with their own percentages.
- 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. None of the states changed its rate for 99220 in 2026, while 7 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 99220
No managed-care plan publishes what it pays for 99220. What is public is the rule each state's plan contracts set, and that rule decides how much the published rate matters when you contract with a plan.
In 2 states, the published rate binds plans: a floor, a pass-through or a state-set rate. In 5 states, plans negotiate and the published rate is a benchmark or out-of-network default. The rule for the remaining 3 states is not classified yet.
- Plans negotiate; the published rate applies out of network (5 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 (2 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 99220
99220 is a CPT evaluation and management code in the physician & professional line, billed mostly by physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other licensed practitioners. Evaluation and management codes are billed once per visit. The code itself sets the level of the visit, so there is no time unit to multiply, and the setting (office, hospital, facility) decides which code applies.
Practitioners who are not physicians are often paid a reduced percentage of the published amount, so check the schedule for the reduction that applies to your provider type. 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 99220?
It depends on the state. Of the 10 states with a published fee-for-service rate, the median is $127.54. Alabama pays the most ($177.75) and New York the least ($30.30 per unit).
Which state pays the highest Medicaid rate for 99220?
Alabama, at $177.75, effective 2016-10-01.
Which state pays the lowest Medicaid rate for 99220?
New York, at $30.30 per unit, effective 2022-04-01. It publishes the code in a different unit from Alabama, so compare per unit with care.
What unit is 99220 billed in?
Of the 10 states, 1 publish 99220 per unit, and 9 schedules print no unit at all (a flat amount per service).
Do managed-care plans pay the same rate for 99220?
Not necessarily. In 2 states, the published rate binds plans: a floor, a pass-through or a state-set rate. In 5 states, plans negotiate and the published rate is a benchmark or out-of-network default. The rule for the remaining 3 states is not classified yet. Each rule is cited to the plan contract, statute or notice in the workspace.