No office rate
This code is for anterior instrumentation removal; 22850 is used for removal of posterior nonsegmental instrumentation.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
22855 Hardware removal Medicare reimbursement rates in California
Removal of anterior spinal fixation hardware, reported when a surgeon removes a previously placed construct during revision or other spine surgery. Compare 22855 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in California.
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 22855 in California?
California has 29 payment localities in this comparison. Use the service location to choose the applicable amount. These are the supported base rates for the 29 payment areas shown below, using the same CMS release.
Office / nonfacility
No supported rate
Facility setting
$1019.22–$1195.53
29 of 29 localities have a supported rate.
Lowest: Chico
Highest: San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (San Benito Cnty)
A spread of $176.31 per service.
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.
Where 22855 pays more and less in California
Spine surgery
About 22855: Anterior spinal instrumentation removal
Removal of anterior spinal fixation hardware, reported when a surgeon removes a previously placed construct during revision or other spine surgery.
This service covers surgical removal of fixation hardware placed along the front of the spine, such as an anterior plate, screws, or related instrumentation. It is typically performed by an orthopedic spine surgeon or neurosurgeon during revision surgery, including cases involving hardware failure, infection, pain, or a change in the treatment plan. The work may occur during a larger spinal operation or as a separate procedure in a facility setting.
Report the code when the operative documentation identifies anterior spinal instrumentation and describes its removal. Distinguish it from removal of posterior hardware based on the approach and location of the construct. The service 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 50% multiple-procedure reduction. Assistant-at-surgery services may be paid; co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation, and team surgery is not permitted. Modifier 50 is inappropriate.
CMS billing rules for 22855
- 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 adjustment does not apply; the descriptor or anatomy makes modifier 50 inappropriate.
- Assistant at surgery
- Assistant at surgery may be paid.
- Co-surgeons
- Co-surgeons paid only with supporting documentation.
- Team surgery
- Team surgery not permitted.
Where the value comes from
- Work RVU15.46 · 49%
- Practice expense (office) RVU11.10 · 35%
- Malpractice RVU4.90 · 16%
1.5K
Medicare services in 2024 · #2666 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.
22855 compared with similar codes
Office rates for California, from the same CMS release.
No office rate
This code covers removal of anterior instrumentation. Use 22852 for removal of posterior segmental instrumentation.
No office rate
22845 describes placement of anterior instrumentation across 2 or 3 vertebral segments, not removal of an existing construct.
No office rate
22864 is for removal of a cervical artificial disc. This code concerns spinal fixation instrumentation rather than a disc prosthesis.
Compare 22855 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.
29 of 29 payment localities
| Payment locality | Office | Facility |
|---|---|---|
| Bakersfield | Office Unavailable | Facility $1032.20 |
| Chico | Office Unavailable | Facility $1019.22 |
| El Centro | Office Unavailable | Facility $1020.04 |
| Fresno | Office Unavailable | Facility $1019.22 |
| Hanford-Corcoran | Office Unavailable | Facility $1019.22 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (Los Angeles/Orange Cnty) | Office Unavailable | Facility $1084.82 |
| Madera | Office Unavailable | Facility $1019.22 |
| Merced | Office Unavailable | Facility $1019.22 |
| Modesto | Office Unavailable | Facility $1019.22 |
| Napa | Office Unavailable | Facility $1120.70 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura | Office Unavailable | Facility $1071.03 |
| Redding | Office Unavailable | Facility $1019.22 |
| Rest Of California | Office Unavailable | Facility $1019.22 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario | Office Unavailable | Facility $1071.62 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom | Office Unavailable | Facility $1053.87 |
| Salinas | Office Unavailable | Facility $1049.81 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad | Office Unavailable | Facility $1063.99 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley (Marin Cnty) | Office Unavailable | Facility $1163.31 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley (San Francisco/San Mateo/Alameda/Contra Costa Cnty) | Office Unavailable | Facility $1157.75 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (San Benito Cnty) | Office Unavailable | Facility $1195.53 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (Santa Clara Cnty) | Office Unavailable | Facility $1172.78 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles | Office Unavailable | Facility $1035.16 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville | Office Unavailable | Facility $1065.41 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara | Office Unavailable | Facility $1050.86 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma | Office Unavailable | Facility $1074.87 |
| Stockton | Office Unavailable | Facility $1019.22 |
| Vallejo | Office Unavailable | Facility $1112.68 |
| Visalia | Office Unavailable | Facility $1019.22 |
| Yuba City | Office Unavailable | Facility $1019.22 |
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22855 billing questions
How is this distinguished from posterior instrumentation removal?
Use this code for removal of anterior spinal instrumentation. Codes 22850 and 22852 describe removal of posterior instrumentation, with the applicable code depending on the posterior construct.
Can this be reported with new anterior fixation placement?
It may be reported with a new anterior instrumentation code when the surgeon removes the prior construct and places new fixation during the same operation. The record should describe both the removal and the new placement.
Should modifier 50 be appended?
No. CMS identifies bilateral adjustment as inappropriate for this service, and modifier 50 is not appropriate.
What documentation supports reporting this code?
Document the anterior location and type of instrumentation, the removal performed, and the clinical reason for removing it. The operative report should make clear that the work was removal of the spinal construct, not simply exposure or revision of another structure.
How does the 90-day global period affect postoperative billing?
The day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care are included in the global period. Other same-session procedures may also trigger the standard multiple-procedure reduction.
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.
2,12322852,,Remove spine fixation device,A,,9.14,8.73,NA,8.73,,2.85,20.72,20.72,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
2,12422853,,Insj biomechanical device,A,,4.14,1.38,NA,1.38,,1.33,6.85,6.85,0,ZZZ,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,2,2,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
2,12522854,,Insj biomechanical device,A,,5.36,1.80,NA,1.80,,1.84,9.00,9.00,0,ZZZ,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,2,2,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
2,12622855,,Removal anterior instrmj,A,,15.46,11.10,NA,11.10,,4.90,31.46,31.46,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
2,12722856,,Tot disc arthrp 1ntrspc crv,A,,23.45,14.72,NA,14.72,,7.40,45.57,45.57,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,0,2,2,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
2,12822857,,Tot disc arthrp 1ntrspc lmbr,A,,26.45,14.89,NA,14.89,,5.63,46.97,46.97,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,0,2,2,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
2,12922858,,Tot disc arthrp 2nd lvl crv,A,,8.19,2.72,NA,2.72,,2.54,13.45,13.45,0,ZZZ,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,2,2,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00