Reference · for your biller
The 2026 Medicare RTM codes, on one page.
Remote Therapeutic Monitoring lets a clinic bill for the home programs it already prescribes. For a PT clinic, six CPT codes cover it, two of them new for 2026. Here are the rates, who documents each code, what Medicare checks before it pays, and where the commercial plans stand.
Initial device setup & patient education
Once per episode · Movra’s packet
MSK device supply, 16–30 days of data per month
Each 30 days · Movra’s packet
MSK device supply, 2–15 days of data per month
Each 30 days · Movra’s packet
Treatment management, first 20 minutes per month
Each calendar month · Your clinicians’ records
Treatment management, 10–19 minutes per month
Each calendar month · Your clinicians’ records
Treatment management, each additional 20 minutes
Each calendar month · Your clinicians’ records
| Code | What it covers | Bills | Documented by | 2026 rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 98975 | Initial device setup & patient education | Once per episode | Movra’s packet | $21.71 |
| 98977 | MSK device supply, 16–30 days of data per month | Each 30 days | Movra’s packet | $51.44 |
| 98985NEW 2026 | MSK device supply, 2–15 days of data per month | Each 30 days | Movra’s packet | $51.44 |
| 98980 | Treatment management, first 20 minutes per month | Each calendar month | Your clinicians’ records | $54.11 |
| 98979NEW 2026 | Treatment management, 10–19 minutes per month | Each calendar month | Your clinicians’ records | $26.39 |
| 98981 | Treatment management, each additional 20 minutes | Each calendar month | Your clinicians’ records | $41.42 |
CY2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, national non-facility payment amounts after the November 2025 correction notice. Geographically adjusted in practice.
What changed in 2026
Two changes are why RTM is worth a second look if you checked it before and walked away.
98985
Pays the device-supply rate at 2 to 15 days of data in a period, the same $51.44 as 98977. The old 16-day cliff, where a patient who trained twice a week produced nothing billable, is gone.
98979
Bills treatment management at 10 to 19 minutes of review in a month. Before 2026 the first billable tier was 20 minutes.
Who documents what
The monitoring codes
$51.44/patient/period
Plus $21.71 setup once per episode. The evidence is the patient’s own transmitted data, and Movra’s month-end packet documents it.
98975 · 98977 · 98985
The management codes
$54.11 first 20 min
Your clinicians’ own interactive review time, documented in your medical record and billed by your clinic. Movra never counts these in an estimate.
98980 · 98979 · 98981
98977 and 98985 are mutually exclusive in a period; a patient qualifies for one or the other by data-day count. 98979 and 98980 are likewise exclusive by minutes.
What Medicare checks, and who handles it
A claim is the bill your clinic sends Medicare for one patient. Before Medicare pays it, and sometimes in an audit after, it checks seven things. Get one wrong and that claim is denied or the payment is taken back. Here is each check and who already handles it.
Movra’s packet handles these
Every month, for every patient, in the packet your biller gets.
The patient agreed to it
A patient has to agree to remote monitoring before it starts. The packet includes their dated consent.
The right monitoring code
2 to 15 days of data in the 30 days bills 98985. 16 to 30 days bills 98977. Never both. The packet counts the days and names the one code to bill.
Setup billed once
The setup code, 98975, bills once when monitoring starts, not every month. The packet includes the setup record.
Your biller already handles these
The same rules they follow on your other PT claims.
The GP tag
RTM from a physical therapist bills as therapy, so each claim carries the GP modifier, like every other PT claim.
One provider per patient
Only one provider bills the monitoring code for a patient in a 30-day period, even if several of your PTs see them.
Not billed with RPM
A patient can’t be billed for RTM and remote physiologic monitoring (RPM) in the same period.
Your PTs handle this
Only if you bill the management codes. The estimate never counts them.
Their own review time
The management codes (98979, 98980, 98981) pay for your PTs’ time reviewing a patient’s data in the calendar month, and need at least one live, two-way call with the patient. Your PTs log that time in your EMR. Movra doesn’t track it.
Commercial plans
The same six codes bill to commercial plans. Two things change. The rate is whatever your contract with that plan pays, so there is no national number. And whether the plan pays at all depends on its published policy. Here is where the large carriers stood as of May 2026.
Medicare Advantage
Covered, Medicare floor
Must cover at least what traditional Medicare covers. The plan can add prior authorization.
Anthem / Elevance
Covered
No prior authorization. Denied when the patient is on home health at the same time.
UnitedHealthcare
Covered
Prior authorization on some plans. Get it before the first claim.
Humana
No published policy
Check each patient’s plan before the first claim.
Aetna
No published policy
Published policy calls RTM unproven and doesn’t pay for it.
Cigna
Not covered
Published policy doesn’t cover RTM for any diagnosis.
Blue Cross Blue Shield is decided plan by plan. Of the 27 Blue plans in our reference, 4 cover RTM by policy, 4 don’t, and 19 have no published position. Self-funded employer plans follow the employer’s plan document, so they get checked every time.
Plans that cover RTM mostly follow the seven checks above, and can add their own: prior authorization, a different day count, their own modifiers. Your biller checks each plan’s policy before the first claim. The free caseload audit at movra.app/audit checks every payer you name.
Who bills what
Your clinic bills these codes under its own NPI, the same way it bills everything else. Movra compiles the monitoring data and documentation into a claims-ready packet your biller submits. Movra does not bill on your behalf and never takes a percentage of your reimbursement.
See a sample packet, with a made-up patient →Want to see what this is worth in your clinic?
The free caseload audit counts your billable-eligible patients at these rates and tells you, honestly, whether the install is a fit.
Get your free caseload auditRates are CY2026 Medicare national non-facility payment amounts from the CMS Physician Fee Schedule. Actual rates are geographically adjusted and vary by locality and payer contract.
Estimates count the device-supply code only (98977 or 98985). Treatment-management codes are billed on your own clinicians’ logged time and are not included.
Billed is not collected. This is an educational estimate, not a guarantee of revenue or reimbursement.
Your clinic bills under its own NPI. Movra packages the documentation your biller submits. Movra does not bill on your behalf.
Commercial and Medicaid coverage of RTM varies by payer and by plan. A published policy is not a benefits verification. Confirm coverage with each payer before enrolling.
This page is general billing reference, not coding or legal advice. Confirm coverage and documentation requirements with your payers and your biller.
CPT is a registered trademark of the American Medical Association. Code descriptions here are Movra’s own summaries, not AMA text.
Current version: movra.app/rtm/codes