HCPCS Level II A0429: Ambulance Basic Life Support Emergency Transport
Commercial payers pay $385 on average nationally for this procedure.
HCPCS Level II code A0429 denotes ambulance service, basic life support, emergency transport — a prehospital emergency response providing BLS-level interventions and patient transport typically from the scene to an acute care facility; service type: Basic Life Support emergency transport; typical site of service: patient location or scene to hospital emergency department or other receiving facility.
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.
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National Reimbursement Benchmarks
National commercial benchmarks for HCPCS A0429 cluster around the BUCA average commercial rate of $385.10, providing a useful mid-market reference. Blue Cross Blue Shield shows the highest dispersion with a P75–P25 spread of $527.70 ($506.60 minus $303.90), indicating wide variability in negotiated rates, while Aetna is notably tighter with a spread of $41.00 ($266.00 minus $225.00). Cigna and UnitedHealth Group show intermediate dispersion of $241.70 ($446.60 minus $205.90) and $119.40 ($460.60 minus $341.20), respectively, highlighting meaningful differences in rate consistency across major national payers.
Focusing on central tendency, UnitedHealth Group and Blue Cross Blue Shield have higher mean levels ($438.60 and $460.50) relative to BUCA’s $385.10 average, while Cigna’s mean sits at $319.70 and Aetna at $246.10. These contrasts between means and BUCA’s average, combined with the dispersion measures, illustrate where negotiated rates are both higher and more volatile (Blue Cross Blue Shield, UnitedHealth Group) versus more clustered and predictable (Aetna).