CPT 99291 Critical Care

Critical Care — First 30-74 Minutes

What should this cost?

Medicare Pays

$268

National benchmark

Typical Range

$1000–$5000

What hospitals charge

Markup

11×

Above Medicare rate

What this code means on your bill

The first period of critical care for a critically ill or injured patient requiring constant physician attention.

Commonly billed for

ICU care, life-threatening conditions, severe sepsis

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 6,000 for this service, it's significantly above the typical range. Request an itemized bill and compare against the Medicare rate of $268.

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Related billing codes

99292

Critical Care — Each Additional 30 Minutes

Medicare: $124