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99177 Ocular instrumnt screen bil

What 99177 is

CMS fee schedule short descriptor: Ocular instrumnt screen bil.

Full CPT long descriptions are licensed by the American Medical Association and are not published on this site; the short descriptor above is the one CMS prints in its own fee schedule file. See About CPT.

Medicare payment for 99177 (CY2026)

Work RVUPractice expense RVUMalpractice RVUTotalMedicare rate
Non-facility (office)0.000.150.010.16$5.34
Facility (hospital, ASC)0.000.150.010.16$5.34

National rates: total RVUs x the CY2026 conversion factor of 33.4009 (non-QP), before geographic adjustment. Actual Medicare payment is 80% of the rate shown after the deductible; the patient or secondary payer owes the 20% coinsurance.


Status: Non-covered by Medicare. Global period: Global concept does not apply.

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Medically Unlikely Edit (MUE)

Medicare caps 99177 at 1 unit per date of service for practitioner claims (MAI 2 - date of service edit (absolute): units above the MUE never pay), rationale: Code Descriptor / CPT Instruction. Units above the cap are denied unless the edit's adjudication rules allow an appeal with documentation.

Billed with 99177? These codes are bundled into it

99177 is a Column 1 code in 8 active NCCI PTP edits. When one of these Column 2 codes is reported on the same date of service, it is denied as bundled - unless the edit's modifier indicator is 1 and documentation supports a distinct service with an NCCI-associated modifier.

Column 2 codeShort descriptionModifier indicator
0469TRta polarize scan oc scr bi0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
36591Draw blood off venous device0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
36592Collect blood from picc0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
92015Determine refractive state0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
96523Irrig drug delivery device0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
99172Ocular function screen0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
99173Visual acuity screen0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
99174Ocular instrumnt screen bil0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair

99177 is bundled into these codes

99177 appears as a Column 2 code in 156 active edits. Reported with one of these Column 1 codes on the same date of service, 99177 is the code that denies.

Column 1 codeShort descriptionModifier indicator
0591THlth&wb coaching indiv 1st1Check pair
0592THlth&wb coaching indiv f-up1Check pair
0593THlth&wb coaching group1Check pair
0734TRem r-t mtn nrehab tx mgmt1Check pair
92002Intrm oph exam new patient0Check pair
92004Compre oph exam new pt 1/>0Check pair
92012Intrm oph exam est patient0Check pair
92014Compre oph exam est pt 1/>0Check pair
98000Synch audio-video new sf 151Check pair
98001Synch audio-video new low 301Check pair
98002Synch audio-video new mod 451Check pair
98003Synch audio-video new hi 601Check pair
98004Synch audio-video est sf 101Check pair
98005Synch audio-video est low 201Check pair
98006Synch audio-video est mod 301Check pair

Data: CMS CY2026 Physician Fee Schedule RVU file (October release, RVU26D) and Medicare NCCI PTP practitioner edits v32.3 (2026 Q4). Verify against the official files before billing or contracting decisions.