Billing code 42830: Adenoid removalMedicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $195.40 for 42830 nationally in a facility.

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

What 42830 covers

An otolaryngologist removes adenoid tissue from the nasopharynx during a first adenoid operation for a patient younger than 12. Common clinical reasons include enlarged adenoids contributing to nasal obstruction, sleep-disordered breathing, or recurrent adenoid-related symptoms. The procedure is generally performed in an operating room under anesthesia; the operative report should establish that adenoid tissue was removed and whether this was the patient’s first adenoid operation.

Select this code for a primary adenoid procedure in a patient younger than 12. When tonsils are also removed in the same operation, use the age-appropriate combined tonsil-and-adenoid code rather than reporting this code as the adenoid portion. Medicare assigns a 90-day global period, including the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care. For multiple procedures in one session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures are subject to the standard 50% 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.

Where 42830 pays more and less

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

109 of 109 payment localities

42830 rates by state

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

How the 42830 rate is calculated

Each of 42830’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 42830

42830 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

42830 compared with similar codes

How to choose

42831Adenoidectomy

Use 42831 when the patient younger than 12 has had a prior adenoid operation and the current procedure is secondary; 42830 is for the primary operation.

42835Adenoid removal

Both describe a primary adenoid operation, but 42835 applies at age 12 or older; 42830 applies below age 12.

42820Tonsil and adenoid removal

Use 42820 when tonsils and adenoids are removed together in a patient younger than 12. Use 42830 when the operation removes adenoids without the combined tonsil procedure.

42825Tonsillectomy

42825 covers tonsil removal alone. It does not describe adenoid removal, which is the service reported with 42830 when performed as a primary operation below age 12.

Codes related to 42830

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