HCPCS Level II A0427: Ambulance Advanced Life Support, Emergency Transport
Commercial payers pay $453 on average nationally for this procedure.
HCPCS Level II code A0427 describes an ambulance service for advanced life support, emergency transport, level 1 (ALS 1 - emergency), indicating prehospital advanced life support care such as cardiac monitoring, intravenous access, or administration of medications provided by paramedic-level personnel during an emergency ambulance transport; the service type is advanced life support (ALS) and the typical site of service is emergency ground ambulance transport.
For related coverage guidance, see recent payer policy updates: Dialysis Services (ESRD) Coverage and Provider Requirements, Total Parenteral Nutrition and Intradialytic Parenteral Nutrition, End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD): Renal Dialysis.
Customize your policy alerts
Sign up for hcpcs A0427 policy alerts
Get alerted when payer policies referencing A0427 are released or updated.
Monitor payer policy activity
National Reimbursement Benchmarks
National commercial reimbursement for HCPCS A0427 centers around the BUCA average commercial benchmark of $453.20, with substantial variation across named payers. Blue Cross Blue Shield shows the highest dispersion and an extreme max outlier ($99,770) that inflates its spread, while UnitedHealth Group and BCBS each have higher mean levels near $521.20 and $542.10 respectively. Cigna and Aetna sit closer to BUCA’s average with means of $374.40 and $286.20, illustrating a mid-to-low tier of payer pricing relative to the overall commercial average.
Examining interquartile ranges (P75–P25) as a measure of dispersion: Blue Cross Blue Shield’s IQR is $272.30 (622.20–349.90), UnitedHealth Group’s IQR is $142.30 (547.50–405.20), BUCA’s IQR is $204.20 (525.90–320.70), Cigna’s IQR is $257.10 (530.40–237.30), and Aetna’s IQR is $45.00 (307.00–261.00). Aetna displays the tightest payer band ($45.00), while Blue Cross Blue Shield and Cigna show the widest spreads, indicating more variability in contracted commercial rates.