L1821 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 L1821, 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. 11 of the 31 states list more than one rate for L1821, 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 31 states, 2 publish L1821 per unit, and 29 schedules print no unit at all (a flat amount per service).
• Per hour. L1821 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 L1821, 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 L1821 run from $100.00 in Ohio to $190.42 in Hawaii. The two publish it in different units (no unit printed versus Each), so part of that gap is the unit rather than the price. Half the states pay more than the median of $143.22 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. 19 states set the current rate for L1821 in 2026 or later. A state that has not updated its rate in years will drift down the ranking as others raise theirs.

What a plan pays for L1821 is negotiated privately, but the state decides how much room there is to negotiate. Here is how the rules break down across the 31 states.

In 6 states, the published rate binds plans: a floor, a pass-through or a state-set rate. In 14 states, plans negotiate and the published rate is a benchmark or out-of-network default. The rule for the remaining 11 states is not classified yet.

• Plans negotiate; the published rate applies out of network (14 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 (6 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 Hawaii managed care.

L1821 is a HCPCS Level II orthotic and prosthetic code in the equipment & supplies line, billed mostly by durable medical equipment suppliers, orthotists, prosthetists and pharmacies. L codes cover orthotic and prosthetic devices. Each is paid per device, and some are priced individually from the supplier's invoice.

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.