Value code 50 is a UB-04 value code for physical therapy visits. Its amount field holds the number of visits, not dollars. Medicare no longer requires it: CMS removed the requirement for value codes 50 to 53 effective October 1, 2010. Some other payers may still ask for it, so check their UB-04 billing guide.
The therapy value codes
| Value code | What it reports |
|---|---|
| 50 | Physical therapy visits |
| 51 | Occupational therapy visits |
| 52 | Speech therapy visits |
| 53 | Cardiac rehab visits |
These are the definitions CMS used when it removed the requirement in Change Request 6899.
Where it goes on the claim
- Paper UB-04: the value code boxes, form locators 39 to 41. Put 50 in the code column and the number of visits in the amount column.
- 837I (electronic): the value information segment in loop 2300, the HI segment with qualifier BE.
- It is for institutional claims, such as hospital outpatient therapy, skilled nursing and rehab agencies. A therapist billing on a CMS-1500 does not use value codes.
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What Medicare changed in 2010
CMS Transmittal 1951 (April 27, 2010) says providers are no longer required to report value codes 50, 51, 52 and 53, effective October 1, 2010. It also told Medicare contractors to turn off any claim edits that required them. So a Medicare claim should not reject only because value code 50 is missing.
Therapy claims to Medicare still need the other things that matter today: the right therapy modifier (GP, GO or GN), the plan of care rules and the KX modifier once the patient passes the yearly threshold. Those rules are in chapter 5 of the Medicare Claims Processing Manual.
When you may still see it
- A commercial, Medicaid or workers' compensation payer whose UB-04 guide still lists it.
- Old billing software rules that add it automatically.
- Payer edits written before 2010 that were never removed.
If a payer rejects a therapy claim for a missing value code, read the rejection and the payer's own UB-04 guide, add the count of visits it asks for, and resubmit. If it is a Medicare claim, ask the contractor about the edit, because it should have been turned off.
Do not mix it up with occurrence code 50
Occurrence codes report dates and value codes report amounts. Occurrence code 50 is a date code used on some institutional claims. It has nothing to do with therapy visit counts, even though the number is the same.
Questions
What is value code 50?
A UB-04 value code for physical therapy visits. The amount field holds the number of visits, not a dollar amount.
Does Medicare still require value code 50?
No. CMS removed the reporting requirement for value codes 50 to 53 effective October 1, 2010 (Change Request 6899, Transmittal 1951).
What are value codes 51, 52 and 53?
51 is occupational therapy visits, 52 is speech therapy visits and 53 is cardiac rehab visits.
Is value code 50 the same as occurrence code 50?
No. Occurrence codes report dates. Value code 50 reports a count of physical therapy visits.
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One email a month. No spam. Unsubscribe any time.Sources: CMS Transmittal 1951, Change Request 6899 (April 27, 2010); Medicare Claims Processing Manual, chapter 5. Last reviewed October 26, 2026. General information, not coding or legal advice.