CPT 99283 Emergency Room

ER Visit — Moderate Severity (Level 3)

What should this cost?

Medicare Pays

$149

National benchmark

Typical Range

$500–$1500

What hospitals charge

Markup

Above Medicare rate

What this code means on your bill

A moderate-complexity ER visit. This is the middle tier and covers many common ER presentations.

Commonly billed for

Abdominal pain, chest pain (low risk), lacerations requiring stitches

What to watch for

Upcoding

If your visit seemed straightforward but you see a high-level code, the provider may have billed for a more complex service than what was performed. Compare the code level to the time you actually spent with the doctor.

Duplicate charges

Check if this code appears more than once on the same date of service. Unless you had the same procedure performed twice (rare), a duplicate is likely a billing error.

Price check

If you're being charged more than 1,800 for this service, it's significantly above the typical range. Request an itemized bill and compare against the Medicare rate of $149.

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Related billing codes

99281

ER Visit — Minor Problem (Level 1)

Medicare: $46

99282

ER Visit — Low Severity (Level 2)

Medicare: $80

99284

ER Visit — High Severity (Level 4)

Medicare: $295

99285

ER Visit — Critical (Level 5)

Medicare: $428