CPT code 95864: Needle EMG, four extremities2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in California

Medicare pays $256.77–$322.55 for 95864 in the office in California, from Chico, CA to San Benito County, CA. Which amount applies depends on the service address.

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

What 95864 covers

A clinician inserts a fine needle electrode into selected muscles in all four limbs and records electrical activity at rest and during muscle contraction. The findings help evaluate conditions such as radiculopathy, peripheral neuropathy, motor neuron disease, or myopathy. Neurologists and physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians commonly perform or interpret the study in outpatient electrodiagnostic laboratories and hospital settings; relevant paraspinal muscles may also be sampled when clinically indicated.

Choose this code when the needle examination covers all four extremities, rather than fewer limbs or a limited muscle sample. The report should identify the limbs and muscles examined, relevant findings, and the clinical question addressed. CMS recognizes a professional interpretation component and a technical component for equipment and staff: report modifier 26 for the professional component, modifier TC for the technical component, or neither modifier for the global service.

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 95864 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 95864 rate is calculated

Each of 95864’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 95864

The CMS indicators that decide how 95864 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 26

95864 compared with similar codes

How to choose

95863Needle EMGThree extremities

Choose 95863 when the needle examination covers three extremities; choose 95864 when it covers all four.

95885Needle EMGLimited, with nerve conduction

95885 describes a limited needle examination by extremity performed with nerve conduction testing, rather than the four-extremity study reported with 95864.

95886Needle EMG add-onComplete study, each extremity

95886 describes a complete needle examination by extremity performed with nerve conduction testing. Use 95864 for a four-extremity study outside that reporting circumstance.

Codes related to 95864

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