CPT code 26449: Tendon release, extensor tendon, forearm or wrist2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in Montana

In Montana, Medicare pays $660.57 for 26449 in a facility. There’s no office rate.

Check a contract rate as a % of Medicare · 26449 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 26449 covers

This procedure frees an extensor tendon in the forearm or wrist from scar adhesions that limit tendon excursion and impair movement. A hand or orthopedic surgeon typically performs it when examination and operative findings support adhesions as the source of restricted tendon glide, such as after prior injury or tendon surgery. The work is tenolysis: freeing the tendon, rather than repairing, lengthening, or removing it.

Report the code for each extensor tendon treated, with documentation identifying the tendon and forearm or wrist location, the adhesions and functional restriction, and the release performed. It has a 90-day global period, including the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care. When multiple procedures are performed in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures are subject to the standard multiple procedure reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate. Assistant-at-surgery payment requires documented medical necessity; 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 Montana compares for 26449

Across 109 of 109 payment localities, the facility rate for 26449 runs from $589.06 in Arkansas to $812.55 in San Benito County, CA. Montana pays $660.57. The RVUs are the same everywhere; the geographic indexes change the dollars.

Every other payment area

26449 rates by state

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

See 26449 in every payment locality

How the 26449 rate is calculated

Each of 26449’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 26449

26449 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 26449

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

How 26449 has changed in Montana

Price 26449 for an earlier date of service

Where the Montana rate applies

Montana is a Medicare payment area, not a city. Our Census mapping connects it to 497 cities and communities in Montana. Some span more than one payment area; confirm with the service ZIP.

• Absarokee
• Acton
• Alberton
• Alder
• Alzada
• Amsterdam
• Anaconda-Deer Lodge County
• Antelope

Browse all communities in Montana

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