AS HCPCS Level II modifier: Physician assistant, nurse practitioner, or clinical nurse specialist services for assistant at surgery
AS is a HCPCS Level II modifier: “Physician assistant, nurse practitioner, or clinical nurse specialist services for assistant at surgery.” It adds this detail to the code it is reported with.
Official description
ASPhysician assistant, nurse practitioner, or clinical nurse specialist services for assistant at surgery
Short description: Assistant at surgery service
HCPCS · United States
Notes for AS
As CMS prints them, with any note AS takes from the headings above it.
Note
- CMS processing note 0069: FOR ASSISTANT SURGEON SERVICES MODIFIERS 80, 81, 82, AK, AL, AM, AN, AS, AU, AV, AW, AY, QB, QU SEE MCM SECTION 15044.
Medicare details
The indicators CMS publishes with AS in its October 2026 file. They describe Medicare’s handling, not another payer’s.
- Medicare coverage
- Carrier judgment
- Added
- Jan 1, 1988
Where AS sits
- 1GroupHCPCS modifiers
- 2Modifier ASPhysician assistant, nurse practitioner, or clinical nurse specialist services for assistant at surgery
Source and release
- Data release
- HCPCS Level II · October 2026
- Effective date
- Oct 1, 2026
- Publisher
- CMS
This page is built from the HCPCS Level II catalog that Vero Codes reads when it suggests codes: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’s October 2026 release, imported from the publisher’s file and checked against it. The description, notes and structured data come from the same record.
Frequently asked questions
What does HCPCS code AS mean?
AS is the HCPCS code for “Physician assistant, nurse practitioner, or clinical nurse specialist services for assistant at surgery” in CMS’s HCPCS Level II October 2026 release.
Where is AS in the HCPCS Level II list?
AS is listed under Modifiers.
Does Medicare cover AS?
CMS lists AS’s Medicare coverage as “Carrier judgment”. Coverage and payment still depend on the patient, the setting, the documentation and the payer.
Which HCPCS Level II release does this page use?
It uses CMS’s October 2026 release, in effect from Oct 1, 2026 to Dec 31, 2026. It is a reference: confirm the code against the current list and the payer’s rules before you submit it.
Codes beside AS
All modifiersAKNon participating physicianAMPhysician, team member serviceAOAlternate payment method declined by provider of serviceAPDetermination of refractive state was not performed in the course of diagnostic ophthalmological examinationAQPhysician providing a service in an unlisted health professional shortage area (hpsa)ARPhysician provider services in a physician scarcity areaATAcute treatment (this modifier should be used when reporting service 98940, 98941, 98942)AUItem furnished in conjunction with a urological, ostomy, or tracheostomy supplyAVItem furnished in conjunction with a prosthetic device, prosthetic or orthoticAWItem furnished in conjunction with a surgical dressingAXItem furnished in conjunction with dialysis servicesAYItem or service furnished to an esrd patient that is not for the treatment of esrd