CPT code 20200: Muscle biopsy, superficial, open approach2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in North Carolina

In North Carolina, Medicare pays $225.16 for 20200 in the office and $83.68 when it’s performed in a hospital or facility.

Check a contract rate as a % of Medicare · 20200 nationwide

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

What 20200 covers

A physician obtains a small sample of accessible skeletal muscle through an open incision for diagnostic examination. Neurologists and surgeons may perform this procedure when evaluation of conditions such as inflammatory myopathy, muscular dystrophy, or metabolic muscle disease requires tissue. The specimen may be sent for histologic or other laboratory studies. This code describes a superficial muscle biopsy, not a needle sample or an open biopsy of a deeper muscle.

Select the code based on the muscle’s depth and the approach documented in the operative report. Documentation should identify the sampled muscle and site, the open approach, and the diagnostic reason for obtaining tissue. The 0-day global period includes same-day preoperative and postoperative care. If multiple procedures are performed in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures are subject to the standard 50% reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate. Medicare does not pay an assistant at surgery for this code, and co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.

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.

How North Carolina compares for 20200

Across 109 of 109 payment localities, the office rate for 20200 runs from $210.16 in Arkansas to $321.76 in San Benito County, CA. North Carolina pays $225.16. The RVUs are the same everywhere; the geographic indexes change the dollars.

Every other payment area

20200 rates by state

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

See 20200 in every payment locality

How the 20200 rate is calculated

Each of 20200’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 20200

The CMS indicators that decide how 20200 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 51

Codes related to 20200

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

How 20200 has changed in North Carolina

Price 20200 for an earlier date of service

Where the North Carolina rate applies

North Carolina is a Medicare payment area, not a city. Our Census mapping connects it to 785 cities and communities in North Carolina. Some span more than one payment area; confirm with the service ZIP.

• Aberdeen
• Advance
• Ahoskie
• Alamance
• Albemarle
• Alexis
• Alliance
• Altamahaw

Browse all communities in North Carolina

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