CPT code 22850: Spinal hardware removal, posterior, nonsegmental2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in California

CMS doesn’t publish an office rate for 22850 in California.

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

What 22850 covers

A spine surgeon reports this service for operative removal of posterior nonsegmental fixation hardware, classically an older rod construct such as a Harrington rod. Removal may be part of a revision for painful or prominent hardware, infection, or another documented clinical reason. The service is typically performed in an operating room; the surgeon’s report should identify the posterior approach, the hardware removed, and the work performed to extract it.

Choose this code for nonsegmental posterior instrumentation, not segmental posterior hardware or anterior instrumentation. Document the construct and the reason for removal, along with any separately performed revision work. Medicare assigns a 90-day global period, including the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care. When multiple procedures occur in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures are subject to the standard 50% multiple-procedure reduction. Assistant-at-surgery payment may be available; co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation, and team surgery 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.

Where 22850 pays more and less in California

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

29 of 29 payment localities

How the 22850 rate is calculated

Each of 22850’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 22850

22850 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

22850 compared with similar codes

How to choose

22852Spinal hardware removalPosterior segmental construct

Choose 22850 for posterior nonsegmental instrumentation and 22852 for posterior segmental instrumentation. The operative report should make the construct type clear.

22855Hardware removalAnterior spinal instrumentation

22855 addresses removal of anterior instrumentation; 22850 is for posterior nonsegmental instrumentation.

22849Spinal fixationReinsertion of existing device

22849 describes reinsertion of spinal fixation in a revision. It does not describe removal alone as 22850 does.

Codes related to 22850

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