CPT code 26842: Thumb fusion, carpometacarpal joint, with graft2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in Arkansas

In Arkansas, Medicare pays $719.70 for 26842 in a facility. There’s no office rate.

Check a contract rate as a % of Medicare · 26842 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 26842 covers

This operation fuses the carpometacarpal joint at the base of the thumb using the patient’s own bone graft. The surgeon prepares the joint surfaces, places graft to support fusion, and may use internal fixation to hold the bones in position. Hand or orthopedic surgeons commonly perform it in an operating room for symptomatic basal-joint arthritis, instability, or damage after trauma when fusion is selected. The graft-harvesting work is included in the service; document its source and use as part of the operative record.

Report this code when the operative documentation supports fusion of the thumb carpometacarpal joint with autogenous graft, rather than fusion of another thumb or hand joint or fusion without graft. The service has a 90-day global period, including the day-before preoperative visit and related postoperative care. For multiple procedures in one session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and the others at 50%. Bilateral reporting with modifier 50 is paid at 150%. Assistant-at-surgery payment may be made; 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.

How Arkansas compares for 26842

Across 109 of 109 payment localities, the facility rate for 26842 runs from $719.70 in Arkansas to $1,031.57 in San Benito County, CA. Arkansas pays $719.70. The RVUs are the same everywhere; the geographic indexes change the dollars.

Every other payment area

26842 rates by state

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

See 26842 in every payment locality

How the 26842 rate is calculated

Each of 26842’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 26842

26842 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 50

Codes related to 26842

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

How 26842 has changed in Arkansas

Price 26842 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