A0200 Billing Code: Lodging for an Escort, Approval Rules, and State Limits

What A0200 means

CMS lists A0200 in the national HCPCS code set as “Non-emergency transportation: ancillary: lodging escort.” The October 2026 quarterly file shows it was added on January 1, 1982. It carries coverage code I, which means Medicare does not pay it, and the file sets no national rate, unit, or modifier.

An escort is the person who travels with a Medicaid rider who cannot make the trip alone, such as a parent with a child. A0200 pays for that person’s room when the trip needs an overnight stay. It never pays for the ride, and it never pays for the escort’s time.

The federal basis is 42 CFR 440.170(a)(3). Medicaid travel expenses include “the cost of meals and lodging en route to and from medical care, and while receiving medical care,” plus an attendant’s transportation, meals, and lodging when an attendant is needed. CMS’s transportation guide (SMD 23-006, September 28, 2023) says covering these related travel expenses is required when they are needed to reach covered care.

A0200 belongs to a small group of codes for overnight trips:

Code	HCPCS description	What it covers
A0180	Lodging-recipient	The rider’s room
A0190	Meals-recipient	The rider’s meals
A0200	Lodging escort	The escort’s room
A0210	Meals-escort	The escort’s meals
T2001	Patient attendant/escort	The escort’s or attendant’s fee, where a program pays one

See NEMT billing codes for the rest of the code set.

Which states pay A0200 and how much

Program	How A0200 is used	Limit	Effective
Oregon Health Plan	Attendant lodging, paid back to the rider by the ride brokerage	The state’s allowable rate or the actual cost, whichever is less. The Oregon Health Authority set it at $98 a night from November 1, 2023.	OAR 410-136-3240, effective January 1, 2025
Louisiana Medicaid	Lodging for an escort	No more than the GSA per diem rate for the location	Rate dated October 1, 2015, on the schedule effective October 1, 2025
North Dakota Medicaid	Paid only to enrolled lodging providers. The July 2025 schedule described A0200 as out-of-state lodging, taxes included, at the GSA rate.	$169.00	July 1, 2026
Arizona AHCCCS fee-for-service	Escort lodging billed by travel services providers, prior authorization required	1 unit a day	Training dated July 2023
North Carolina Medicaid (county-run)	Attendant lodging, reported by the county agency	Actual cost, up to $94.10 in state and $111.10 out of state, or a higher county rate if the county chooses	MA-2910 revised March 16, 2026
Indiana Medicaid fee-for-service	Listed as not covered on the state fee schedule. The broker pays meals and lodging out of its capitation.	The broker may apply the limits in Indiana’s state travel policy	Fee schedule updated June 9, 2026

The Oregon Health Authority said in its 2023 notice that it reviews the rate every year, so ask your brokerage for the current figure. Ride Line, an Oregon ride brokerage run by the Oregon Cascades West Council of Governments, pays lodging up to $110 a night in its January 2026 guide, or the actual cost when the room is cheaper.

Many limits follow the federal per diem rates set by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). The standard lodging rate, for places without their own GSA rate, was $110 a night from October 2025 through September 2026. It is $113 a night from October 1, 2026, before taxes. Many cities have higher rates, so look up the destination. North Dakota’s state plan, effective July 1, 2025, limits lodging for riders, attendants, and transportation providers to the GSA rate for the destination as of January 1 of each year.

When escort lodging is approved

Programs set similar tests. These come from the rules in force as of September 2026.

• An overnight stay must be needed. North Dakota pays meals and lodging only when care or travel requires an overnight stay, such as arriving the day before an early appointment. Alaska pays only when the rider cannot reasonably get home the same day (7 AAC 120.425).
• Travel times can decide it. Oregon’s rule OAR 410-136-3240, effective January 1, 2025, pays lodging when travel would start before 5 a.m., end after 9 p.m., or when the rider’s health care provider documents a medical need.
• The escort must be needed. Oregon pays for one attendant, who may be a parent, when the rider is a minor who cannot travel alone, a doctor signs a statement, or the rider cannot reach the appointment or get home without help. Alaska approves an escort for a rider 17 or younger, or for an adult when the escort is medically necessary. North Dakota allows one parent with a child under 18.
• An inpatient stay changes the rule. Once a rider is admitted, Oregon pays the attendant’s meals and lodging for the trip home, and pays for a stay nearby only if it costs less. North Dakota does not pay a driver’s or attendant’s meals and lodging while the member is a patient, unless staying is cheaper. Arizona uses A0200 for this case, when the escort cannot stay at the bedside.
• Free lodging comes first. Alaska does not pay when suitable lodging is available at no cost, and its definition of lodging leaves out stays with friends or relatives.
• One room for both. Alaska bars a claim for a second room, or a higher rate because the rider and escort share, unless the prior authorization allows it.

Arizona’s July 2023 training for travel services providers shows how the rider and escort codes split:

Situation	Code	Units for a 2-night stay
Member and escort share a room	A0180	2
Member admitted to the hospital, escort needs a room	A0200	2

For more on who may ride along, see can a caregiver ride with NEMT.

Who bills A0200 and what your ride company does

In most programs the room never goes on your ride claim.

• North Dakota: payment goes only to providers enrolled to provide lodging, never to the member. Lodging providers bill through the Travel, Meals, and Lodging claim page of the North Dakota Web Portal, after the human services zone or tribe authorizes the trip on an SFN 1507.
• Arizona: travel services providers bill A0200 on the CMS-1500 with place of service 99. The training lists diagnosis code R68.89 as acceptable for travel requests.
• Indiana: FSSA preapproves every request for meals and lodging for a member and one escort. The broker pays for them out of its capitation and must use any discounted lodging the medical provider offers. See the Verida broker guide.
• North Carolina: the county agency reports attendant lodging on the DHB-2055, and the state reimburses the county.
• Oregon: the ride brokerage reimburses the rider after the trip, and the rider must return a lodging receipt.

If a broker or facility asks your company to run an overnight trip:

1. Ask who books the room. Find out whether the broker, a travel provider, or the rider arranges and pays for lodging, before you accept.
2. Get the approval in writing. The authorization should name the escort and show the nights approved. See NEMT prior authorization.
3. Settle your driver’s room too. North Dakota’s manual lets a driver’s meals and lodging be authorized, and its state plan caps that lodging at the same GSA rate. Elsewhere, ask whether your driver’s room is covered before you commit.
4. Keep the receipts. The rider’s name, or the parent’s name for a child, should be on the lodging receipt, as Ride Line requires.
5. Bill the escort’s fee on its own line. Where your program pays an escort or attendant fee, it has its own code and never goes on A0200. North Carolina reports attendant pay on A0170 or T2001, and Arizona’s training bills a non-family escort fee on A0130.

For planning long trips, see rural NEMT and the state guides for Oregon, North Dakota, and North Carolina.