Interpreter Services

Interpretative services may be covered, whether done orally or through sign language. Interpreters must provide only interpretation services for the agency. The services must facilitate access to Medicaid covered services.

In order for interpretation services to be covered by Iowa Medicaid, the services must meet the following criteria: 

♦ Provided by interpreters who provide only interpretive services 

♦ Interpreters may be employed or contracted by the billing provider

♦ The interpretive services must facilitate access to Medicaid covered services

Providers may only bill for these services if offered in conjunction with an otherwise Medicaid covered service. Medical staff that are bilingual are not reimbursed for the interpretation but only for their medical services

a. Documentation of the Service

The billing provider must document in the member’s record the: 

♦ Interpreter’s name or company, 

♦ Date and time of the interpretation, 

♦ Service duration (time in and time out), and 

♦ Cost of providing the service.

b. Qualifications

It is the responsibility of the billing provider to determine the interpreter’s competency. Sign language interpreters should be licensed pursuant to 645 Iowa Administrative Code 361. Oral interpreters should be guided by the standards developed by the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care.

Following is the instruction for billing interpretive services when that service is provided by an outside commercial translation service:

 Bill code T1013

  • For telephonic interpretive services use modifier “UC” to indicate that the payment should be made at a per-minute unit.

 • The lack of the UC modifier will indicate that the charge is being made for the 15 minute face-to-face unit.

♦ Enter the number of minutes actually used for the provision of the service. The 15 minute unit should be rounded up if the service is provided for 8 minutes or more.

NOTE: Because the same code is being used but a conditional modifier may be necessary, any claim where the UC modifier is NOT used and the units exceed 24 will be paid at 24 units.