Q9958 Medicaid reimbursement rate by state (2026)
High osmolar contrast material. Medicaid pays a median of $0.08 for Q9958 across 23 states, from $0.02 in Kansas to $0.17 in New Jersey.
- States publishing
- 23
- National median
- $0.08units vary by state
- Lowest
- $0.02Kansas
- Highest
- $0.17New Jersey
What does Medicaid pay for Q9958?
23 state Medicaid programs publish a fee-for-service rate for Q9958. The national median is $0.08 (units differ between states). New Jersey pays the most, $0.17, and Kansas the least, $0.02, a 8.5x spread.
Q9958 rate by state: highest, middle and lowest
One like-for-like fee-for-service rate per state, ranked. The workspace lists all 23 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 Q9958, 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. 4 of the 23 states list more than one rate for Q9958, 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 23 states, 1 publish Q9958 per 1 ml, and 22 schedules print no unit at all (a flat amount per service).
- Per hour. Q9958 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 Q9958, 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 Q9958 rates differ between states
Published rates for Q9958 run from $0.02 in Kansas to $0.17 in New Jersey, a 8.5x gap in the same unit. Half the states pay more than the median of $0.08 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Timing matters too. 12 states set the current rate for Q9958 in 2026 or later, while 3 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 Q9958
No managed-care plan publishes what it pays for Q9958. 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 12 states, plans negotiate and the published rate is a benchmark or out-of-network default. The rule for the remaining 9 states is not classified yet.
- Plans negotiate; the published rate applies out of network (12 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 New Jersey managed care.
Units and billing for Q9958
Q9958 is a HCPCS Level II temporary code in the physician & professional line, billed mostly by physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other licensed practitioners. Q codes are temporary codes for drugs, biologicals, supplies and services. The unit depends on the code and is often a dose or an item.
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 Q9958?
It depends on the state. Of the 23 states with a published fee-for-service rate, the median is $0.08. New Jersey pays the most ($0.17) and Kansas the least ($0.02).
Which state pays the highest Medicaid rate for Q9958?
New Jersey, at $0.17, effective 2025-01-01.
Which state pays the lowest Medicaid rate for Q9958?
Kansas, at $0.02, effective 2013-10-01.
What unit is Q9958 billed in?
Of the 23 states, 1 publish Q9958 per 1 ml, and 22 schedules print no unit at all (a flat amount per service).
Do managed-care plans pay the same rate for Q9958?
Not necessarily. In 2 states, the published rate binds plans: a floor, a pass-through or a state-set rate. In 12 states, plans negotiate and the published rate is a benchmark or out-of-network default. The rule for the remaining 9 states is not classified yet. Each rule is cited to the plan contract, statute or notice in the workspace.