A5051 Medicaid reimbursement rate by state (2026)

• Order. States are listed from the highest published rate to the lowest. No single unit is shared by 8 or more states for A5051, 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. 18 of the 47 states list more than one rate for A5051, 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 47 states, 4 publish A5051 per unit, and 43 schedules print no unit at all (a flat amount per service).
• Per hour. A5051 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 A5051, 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.

Published rates for A5051 run from $1.64 in Michigan to $3.62 in North Dakota, a 2.2x gap in the same unit. Half the states pay more than the median of $2.35 and half pay less. The usual reasons for a spread like this in equipment & supplies rates:

• Some items are priced individually from the manufacturer's price or the supplier's invoice, so fewer states publish a fixed fee.
• Many states set equipment and supply fees as a percentage of the Medicare DMEPOS fee schedule, at different percentages and from different years.
• A single code can carry separate purchase, rental and used-equipment amounts, and states publish different subsets of them.

Timing matters too. 22 states set the current rate for A5051 in 2026 or later, while 15 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 a plan pays for A5051 is negotiated privately, but the state decides how much room there is to negotiate. Here is how the rules break down across the 47 states.

In 8 states, the published rate binds plans: a floor, a pass-through or a state-set rate. In 23 states, plans negotiate and the published rate is a benchmark or out-of-network default. The rule for the remaining 16 states is not classified yet.

• Plans negotiate; the published rate applies out of network (23 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 (7 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.
• The state sets the plan rate (1 state). There is little to negotiate on price. Contracting is about network participation, authorization and billing terms.

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 North Dakota managed care.

A5051 is a HCPCS Level II transportation and supply code in the equipment & supplies line, billed mostly by durable medical equipment suppliers, orthotists, prosthetists and pharmacies. A codes cover ambulance and transportation services and medical and surgical supplies. Transport codes are paid per trip or per mile; supply codes per item or per box as the code states.

Pricing modifiers decide which amount applies: NU for a new purchase, RR for a monthly rental and UE for used equipment. Units follow the code: per item, per pair, per box or per month of rental, so a per-unit comparison only holds when the states use the same unit.

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.