Merchant category codes

MCC 8099: Medical Services and Health Practitioners, Not Elsewhere Classified

MCC 8099 is the merchant category code for medical services. It tells every card network what kind of business you are, and that decides which interchange rates your sales can qualify for.

Written by Robert Day, Founder and Managing Partner of weAudit.com, previously an executive at Fifth Third Processing Solutions, later Vantiv and Worldpay, now part of Global Payments, the world’s largest card processor. Published October 2026.

MCC 8099 at a glance

8099

Name: Medical Services and Health Practitioners, Not Elsewhere Classified

Health services that do not fit a more specific medical code, such as clinics, medical spas, therapy and wellness services.

Seeing it on your own card statement?

It means the business is classified as a medical or health service. That can matter for health savings and flexible spending cards.

What MCC 8099 covers

MCC 8099 covers medical services and health practitioners that do not fit a more specific medical code, such as doctors (8011), dentists (8021) or hospitals (8062). It is common for clinics, therapy practices, medical spas and similar providers.

Code	Name	How it differs
8099	Medical Services, Not Elsewhere Classified	Health services without a more specific code
8011	Doctors	Physicians not elsewhere classified
8021	Dentists and Orthodontists	Dental practices
8062	Hospitals	Hospital services

Why the code changes what a business pays

Healthcare codes matter twice. Interchange programs differ by merchant type, and health savings and flexible spending cards are often set up to work only at healthcare codes. A practice with the wrong code can pay more on every payment and see patients’ health spending cards declined at the desk.

The code is set when the account is opened, usually by whoever filled in the application. Nobody checks it again unless you ask. A wrong code costs money on every sale for as long as the account is open, and it never appears on the statement as a fee.

Signs MCC 8099 may be the wrong code

Patients’ HSA or FSA cards are declined for eligible services
Your statement shows a retail or general service code
A medical spa or wellness practice was coded as personal services
Your account was set up by a software vendor and never reviewed

See the full merchant category code list, run your numbers with the fee calculator, or read why setup matters more than the rate you were quoted.

Common questions

What is MCC 8099?

It is the merchant category code for medical services and health practitioners not classified elsewhere.

Why would HSA or FSA cards decline at my practice?

Health spending cards are often limited to healthcare merchant codes. If your account carries a non-medical code, those cards can decline.

What is the difference between 8099 and 8011?

8011 is for doctors. 8099 covers other medical services and health practitioners that do not have a more specific code.

Can a practice change its merchant category code?

Yes, by asking its processor, as long as the code matches the services the practice actually provides.

Can the wrong code cost a business money?

Yes. The code decides which interchange programs a sale can qualify for, so a wrong one can cost money on every sale without ever appearing as a fee.

Send us a statement. We will check your code, and everything else.

Our first audit is free and takes about five minutes of your time. We check whether your account is coded and set up correctly, and if there is nothing to find, you will know that too.

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About this page: merchant category codes are defined by the ISO 18245 standard and published by the card networks, which occasionally add, retire or rename codes and do not always use identical names. Code names here follow Visa and Mastercard published lists, checked October 2026. Whether a code is right for a particular business depends on what it actually sells; your processor and the card networks make the final assignment.