No office rate
Choose 29867 for donor osteochondral tissue; 29866 is for osteochondral tissue harvested from the patient.
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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
29867 Knee allograft Medicare reimbursement rates in Alabama
Arthroscopic placement of donor osteochondral tissue treats a focal knee cartilage-and-bone defect when restoration with an allograft is performed. Compare 29867 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Alabama.
Amounts below use the non-QP conversion factor for participating physicians. These are base physician payments before claim-level adjustments, not patient costs or total hospital charges.
What does Medicare pay for 29867 in Alabama?
Alabama has 1 payment locality in this comparison. Use the service location to choose the applicable amount. These are the supported base rates for the payment area shown below, using the same CMS release.
Office / nonfacility
No supported rate
Facility setting
$1066.71
1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.
Payment area: Alabama
One mapped payment locality.
These are locality ranges, not averages or address-specific quotes. A facility-setting amount covers the physician service; it does not include a hospital’s separate bill. Choose a locality below to inspect its calculation, compare other payment areas, or price a percentage of Medicare.
Knee arthroscopy
About 29867: Arthroscopic knee osteochondral allograft implantation
Arthroscopic placement of donor osteochondral tissue treats a focal knee cartilage-and-bone defect when restoration with an allograft is performed.
An orthopedic surgeon uses knee arthroscopy to prepare a focal defect in the joint surface and place donor osteochondral tissue, restoring both cartilage and supporting bone. This approach may be selected for a contained cartilage-and-bone lesion when an allograft is used instead of tissue harvested from the patient. The procedure is generally performed in a hospital outpatient department or ambulatory surgery center; 2024 Medicare claims show facility reporting for this code.
Report 29867 for arthroscopic implantation of osteochondral allograft, not meniscal transplantation or use of the patient’s own osteochondral tissue. The operative report should identify the treated defect, arthroscopic approach, implantation, and graft source. The 90-day global period includes 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 at 50%. Bilateral reporting with modifier 50 is paid at 150%. Assistant-at-surgery payment requires documentation of medical necessity; co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.
CMS billing rules for 29867
- Global period
- Major surgery with a 90-day global period: the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care are included.
- Multiple procedures
- Standard multiple procedure reduction: the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and others at 50% when performed in the same session.
- Bilateral procedures
- Bilateral procedure with modifier 50 is paid at 150%.
- Assistant at surgery
- Assistant at surgery is paid only with documentation of medical necessity.
- Co-surgeons
- Co-surgeons not permitted.
- Team surgery
- Team surgery not permitted.
Where the value comes from
- Work RVU17.93 · 51%
- Practice expense (office) RVU13.53 · 38%
- Malpractice RVU3.83 · 11%
15
Medicare services in 2024 · #6067 by national volume
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.
29867 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Alabama, from the same CMS release.
No office rate
Both address knee osteochondral defects with an allograft, but 27415 is the open procedure; 29867 is arthroscopic.
No office rate
29868 is for meniscal allograft transplantation. 29867 addresses an osteochondral defect, not replacement of meniscal tissue.
No office rate
29877 reports arthroscopic chondroplasty; 29867 is used when osteochondral allograft tissue is implanted.
Compare 29867 by payment locality
Find the payment area for your service address, then open its rate page for calculation inputs, release history and the percentage-of-Medicare tool. A city may cross payment-area boundaries; the ZIP lookup above helps resolve the location.
1 of 1 payment localities
Alabama →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$1066.71
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How this local rate is calculated
Each RVU component is multiplied by its own geographic practice cost index (GPCI). The three adjusted components are added, then multiplied by the conversion factor. These are the inputs used for 29867 in Alabama.
PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv
3,351
- Code
- 29867
- Physician work
- 17.93
- Practice expense
- 13.53
- Malpractice
- 3.83
GPCI2026.csv
4
- Locality
- Alabama
- Physician work
- 1.000
- Practice expense
- 0.875
- Malpractice
- 0.566
| Component | RVU | Locality factor | Adjusted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physician work | 17.93 | × 1.000 | 17.9300 |
| Practice expense | 13.53 | × 0.875 | 11.8387 |
| Malpractice | 3.83 | × 0.566 | 2.1678 |
| Total RVUs | 31.9365 | ||
| Conversion factor | × 33.4009 | ||
Facility rate, Alabama$1066.71
Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula
Facility
| Component | RVU | Local GPCI |
|---|---|---|
| Work | 17.93 | 1 |
| Practice expense | 13.53 | 0.875 |
| Malpractice | 3.83 | 0.566 |
(17.93 × 1 + 13.53 × 0.875 + 3.83 × 0.566) × $33.4009 = $1066.71
The office and facility calculations use their respective practice-expense RVUs. The facility amount here is the physician fee, not a separate hospital or facility bill.
29867 billing questions
How does 29867 differ from 29866?
29867 is for an osteochondral allograft from a donor. Use 29866 when the osteochondral tissue is harvested from the patient.
Is this code for a meniscal allograft transplant?
No. This code concerns osteochondral tissue used to address a cartilage-and-bone defect. Meniscal transplantation is a different procedure, reported with 29868.
What should the operative report support?
Document the knee defect and its location, the arthroscopic approach, implantation of osteochondral tissue, and whether the graft is donor tissue.
What care falls within the global period?
The 90-day global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care.
How are bilateral cases and other same-session procedures paid?
Bilateral reporting with modifier 50 is paid at 150%. When multiple procedures are performed in the same session, the highest-valued is paid in full and the others at 50%.
Where these rates come from
FeeBase calculates base physician payments from CMS work, practice-expense, and malpractice RVUs, adjusted by each locality’s geographic indices and the applicable conversion factor. Unavailable or separately priced services are labeled rather than assigned a made-up amount.
Source: RVU26D. Effective 2026-10-01 through the day before 2027-01-01.
3,34829862,,Hip arthr0 w/debridement,A,,10.89,9.69,NA,9.69,,2.17,22.75,22.75,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,3,1,2,1,0,9,29860,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,34929863,,Hip arthr0 w/synovectomy,A,,10.89,9.66,NA,9.66,,2.12,22.67,22.67,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,3,1,2,1,0,9,29860,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,35029866,,Autgrft implnt knee w/scope,A,,14.30,11.98,NA,11.98,,3.04,29.32,29.32,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,1,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,35129867,,Allgrft implnt knee w/scope,A,,17.93,13.53,NA,13.53,,3.83,35.29,35.29,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,1,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,35229868,,Meniscal trnspl knee w/scpe,A,,24.47,15.62,NA,15.62,,5.19,45.28,45.28,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,1,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,35329870,,Arthrs knee dx w/wo syn bx,A,,5.06,11.96,,5.88,,1.03,18.05,11.97,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,1,1,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,35429871,,Arthrs knee surg for infctj,A,,6.52,6.84,NA,6.84,,1.35,14.71,14.71,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,3,1,1,0,0,9,29870,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1ADDENDUM E. FINAL CY 2026 GEOGRAPHIC PRACTICE COST INDICES (GPCIs) BY STATE AND MEDICARE LOCALITY,,,,,,
2,,,,,,
3Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC),State,Locality Number,Locality Name,2026 PW GPCI (with 1.0 Floor)***,2026 PE GPCI,2026 MP GPCI
410112,AL,00,ALABAMA,1.000,0.875,0.566
502102,AK,01,ALASKA*,1.500,1.065,0.551
603102,AZ,00,ARIZONA,1.000,0.969,0.856
707102,AR,13,ARKANSAS,1.000,0.859,0.515