CPT code 21601: Chest wall excision, tumor excision including ribs2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in Arkansas

In Arkansas, Medicare pays $985.50 for 21601 in a facility. There’s no office rate.

Check a contract rate as a % of Medicare · 21601 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 21601 covers

This operation removes a chest-wall tumor together with involved rib tissue, rather than removing a rib as an isolated procedure. Thoracic or oncologic surgeons perform it in an operating room, commonly for a primary chest-wall mass or a lesion requiring removal of both tumor and rib tissue. The operative field may include adjacent soft tissue; the defining service is tumor excision that includes rib removal.

Report the code when the operative report supports chest-wall tumor excision with rib resection, and document the tumor site, tissues removed, and ribs involved. The 90-day global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care. For multiple procedures in one session, Medicare pays the highest-valued procedure in full and other procedures at 50%. Do not use modifier 50 for bilateral reporting. An assistant at surgery may be paid; co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation, and team-surgery payment is 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 Arkansas compares for 21601

Across 109 of 109 payment localities, the facility rate for 21601 runs from $985.50 in Arkansas to $1,359.55 in Alaska. Arkansas pays $985.50. The RVUs are the same everywhere; the geographic indexes change the dollars.

Every other payment area

21601 rates by state

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

See 21601 in every payment locality

How the 21601 rate is calculated

Each of 21601’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 21601

21601 has a 90-day global period: related visits in that window are included in the surgery payment.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 51

Codes related to 21601

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

How 21601 has changed in Arkansas

Price 21601 for an earlier date of service

Where the Arkansas rate applies

Arkansas is a Medicare payment area, not a city. Our Census mapping connects it to 626 cities and communities in Arkansas. Some span more than one payment area; confirm with the service ZIP.

• Acorn
• Adona
• Alexander
• Alicia
• Alix
• Alleene
• Allport
• Alma

Browse all communities in Arkansas

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