CPT code 01486: Ankle replacement anesthesia, open total joint replacement2026 Medicare rate & RVUs

Medicare allowed amount for participating (non-QP) physicians, before deductible, coinsurance and claim adjustments. Not a patient’s bill or a hospital charge.

What 01486 covers

01486 represents anesthesia for open replacement of the ankle joint with a prosthesis. An anesthesiologist or CRNA reports the anesthesia service while supporting ankle arthroplasty, commonly in a hospital or ambulatory surgical setting. The operation replaces the ankle joint rather than treating a fracture, performing an isolated tendon repair, or using arthroscopy.

Choose this code when the operative report documents open total ankle replacement; use a different anesthesia code for ankle or foot arthroscopy, other open lower-leg, ankle, or foot work, or total knee replacement. The operative record should identify the ankle joint replacement and open approach, and the anesthesia record should support the practitioner’s service. This code has 7 base units; Medicare payment is (base units + time units) × the locality-specific anesthesia conversion factor. Anesthesia time begins when the practitioner starts preparing the patient and ends when the practitioner is no longer in personal attendance and the patient can safely be placed under postoperative care; reported minutes are converted to 15-minute time units to one decimal place.

This summary was written with AI assistance from CMS physician fee schedule data and checked against the CMS billing rules shown here. Rates on this page come directly from CMS files.

Where 01486 pays more and less

The same RVUs, adjusted for each area’s costs. Open a locality for its calculation, history and nearby areas.

109 of 109 payment localities

01486 rates by state

Office rate range in each state. Select a state to see its payment localities.

How the 01486 rate is calculated

Each of 01486’s three RVUs is multiplied by a geographic index (GPCI) for the payment locality, added up, and multiplied by the conversion factor. Drag the indexes or enter a ZIP to see what moves the rate.

Payment rules and modifiers for 01486

01486 has no global surgery period, no multiple-procedure, bilateral or assistant-at-surgery adjustment, and no professional/technical split. What changes the payment is where the service happens: the place of service on the claim decides whether Medicare pays the office or the facility rate.

01486 compared with similar codes

How to choose

01480Open lower-extremity anesthesiaLower leg, ankle, or foot

01486 applies to open total ankle replacement. Use 01480 for other open lower-leg, ankle, or foot procedures.

01484Bone procedure anesthesiaOpen lower leg, ankle, or foot

01484 covers anesthesia for open osteotomy or osteoplasty in the lower leg, ankle, or foot. It is not the code for total ankle replacement.

01464Ankle/foot arthroscopyAnkle or foot arthroscopy

01464 is for ankle or foot arthroscopy; 01486 is for open total ankle replacement.

01402Knee replacement anesthesiaTotal knee arthroplasty

01402 applies to total knee arthroplasty. Use 01486 when the replaced joint is the ankle.

Codes related to 01486

Related codes aren’t interchangeable: bill the code that matches the service performed.

Where these rates come from

FeeBase calculates base physician payments from CMS work, practice-expense and malpractice RVUs, adjusted by each locality’s geographic indexes and the conversion factor. Services without a published rate are labeled, never given a made-up amount. Amounts are Medicare allowed amounts before claim adjustments: not a patient’s bill or a commercial rate.

CMS RVU26D · effective Oct 1, 2026 through the day before Jan 1, 2027

Open CMS sourceHow we calculate rates