No office rate
Choose 26418 for a finger extensor tendon repair without a free graft; 26420 describes the grafted repair.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
26418 Finger tendon repair Medicare reimbursement rates in California
Reports repair of a finger extensor tendon without a free graft, when the surgeon restores tendon continuity after an injury or disruption. Compare 26418 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 26418 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
$660.45–$830.93
29 of 29 localities have a supported rate.
Lowest: Chico
Highest: San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (San Benito Cnty)
A spread of $170.48 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 26418 pays more and less in California
Hand surgery
About 26418: Finger extensor tendon repair without graft
Reports repair of a finger extensor tendon without a free graft, when the surgeon restores tendon continuity after an injury or disruption.
A hand surgeon typically uses this service to restore continuity of an injured or disrupted extensor tendon in a finger, allowing the tendon to transmit force for extension. The repair is performed in an operative setting and may follow an acute laceration or address a tendon injury requiring operative repair. This code describes repair without a free tendon graft; a repair requiring graft reconstruction belongs to a different code choice.
Select the code based on the finger tendon repaired and the operative method, not simply the diagnosis. The operative report should identify the tendon and finger, describe the repair, and establish that no free graft was used. It has a 90-day global period, including the day-before preoperative visit and related postoperative care. When multiple procedures occur in one session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures are subject to the standard multiple-procedure reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate. Medicare does not pay an assistant at surgery for this service, and co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.
CMS billing rules for 26418
- 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
- Statutory restriction: assistant at surgery is not paid.
- Co-surgeons
- Co-surgeons not permitted.
- Team surgery
- Team surgery not permitted.
Where the value comes from
- Work RVU4.36 · 23%
- Practice expense (office) RVU13.58 · 72%
- Malpractice RVU0.85 · 5%
2.6K
Medicare services in 2024 · #2276 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.
26418 compared with similar codes
Office rates for California, from the same CMS release.
No office rate
26410 addresses extensor tendon repair in the hand. 26418 is the finger-specific repair code.
No office rate
26415 describes tendon excision, not restoration of tendon continuity. Report 26418 when the operative service is repair.
Compare 26418 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 $662.81 |
| Chico | Office Unavailable | Facility $660.45 |
| El Centro | Office Unavailable | Facility $660.59 |
| Fresno | Office Unavailable | Facility $660.45 |
| Hanford-Corcoran | Office Unavailable | Facility $660.45 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (Los Angeles/Orange Cnty) | Office Unavailable | Facility $707.04 |
| Madera | Office Unavailable | Facility $660.45 |
| Merced | Office Unavailable | Facility $660.45 |
| Modesto | Office Unavailable | Facility $660.45 |
| Napa | Office Unavailable | Facility $767.05 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura | Office Unavailable | Facility $703.53 |
| Redding | Office Unavailable | Facility $660.45 |
| Rest Of California | Office Unavailable | Facility $660.45 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario | Office Unavailable | Facility $669.59 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom | Office Unavailable | Facility $693.61 |
| Salinas | Office Unavailable | Facility $691.06 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad | Office Unavailable | Facility $707.87 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley (Marin Cnty) | Office Unavailable | Facility $812.05 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley (San Francisco/San Mateo/Alameda/Contra Costa Cnty) | Office Unavailable | Facility $811.08 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (San Benito Cnty) | Office Unavailable | Facility $830.93 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (Santa Clara Cnty) | Office Unavailable | Facility $826.99 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles | Office Unavailable | Facility $679.95 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville | Office Unavailable | Facility $715.01 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara | Office Unavailable | Facility $693.80 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma | Office Unavailable | Facility $722.22 |
| Stockton | Office Unavailable | Facility $660.45 |
| Vallejo | Office Unavailable | Facility $765.66 |
| Visalia | Office Unavailable | Facility $660.45 |
| Yuba City | Office Unavailable | Facility $660.45 |
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26418 billing questions
How does this differ from 26420?
26418 is for finger extensor tendon repair without a free graft. Use 26420 when the repair requires a free graft.
What documentation supports reporting 26418?
Document the finger and tendon repaired, the nature of the tendon injury, and the operative technique showing repair without a free graft.
Can the surgeon report a separate assistant-at-surgery service?
Medicare does not pay an assistant at surgery for 26418. Co-surgeons and team surgery are also not permitted under the CMS facts for this code.
How does the global period affect postoperative visits?
The 90-day global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care.
Can modifier 50 be used when both hands are treated?
No. The CMS bilateral adjustment does not apply to this code, and modifier 50 is inappropriate.
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.
2,58626412,,Repair/graft hand tendon,A,,6.32,13.29,NA,13.29,,1.21,20.82,20.82,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
2,58726415,,Excision hand/finger tendon,A,,8.30,14.89,NA,14.89,,1.76,24.95,24.95,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
2,58826416,,Graft hand or finger tendon,A,,9.32,15.56,NA,15.56,,1.98,26.86,26.86,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
2,58926418,,Repair finger tendon,A,,4.36,13.58,NA,13.58,,0.85,18.79,18.79,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
2,59026420,,Repair/graft finger tendon,A,,6.77,13.45,NA,13.45,,1.28,21.50,21.50,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,0,2,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
2,59126426,,Repair finger/hand tendon,A,,6.16,6.92,NA,6.92,,1.17,14.25,14.25,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
2,59226428,,Repair/graft finger tendon,A,,7.22,14.89,NA,14.89,,1.52,23.63,23.63,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00