No office rate
Both describe finger extensor tendon repair without a free graft; choose 26426 for secondary repair and 26418 for primary repair.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
26426 Tendon repair Medicare reimbursement rates in California
Reports secondary repair of a finger extensor tendon without a free graft, such as reconstruction after an earlier injury or failed initial repair. Compare 26426 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 26426 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
$483.52–$582.62
29 of 29 localities have a supported rate.
Lowest: Chico
Highest: San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (San Benito Cnty)
A spread of $99.10 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 26426 pays more and less in California
Hand surgery
About 26426: Secondary finger extensor tendon repair
Reports secondary repair of a finger extensor tendon without a free graft, such as reconstruction after an earlier injury or failed initial repair.
A hand surgeon repairs an extensor tendon on a finger as a secondary procedure, without using a free tendon graft. The tendon may have been injured in a laceration or may require reconstruction after an earlier repair. The surgeon restores tendon continuity or function through an operative approach; the code is specific to a finger rather than a tendon in the hand more broadly.
Select this code when the operative report supports a secondary repair and documents the finger tendon treated and that no free graft was used. Report the service per tendon. Medicare assigns a 90-day global period, including the day-before preoperative visit and related postoperative care. For multiple procedures in one session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and others at 50%. Modifier 50 is inappropriate for this code. Medicare does not pay an assistant at surgery; co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.
CMS billing rules for 26426
- 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 RVU6.16 · 43%
- Practice expense (office) RVU6.92 · 49%
- Malpractice RVU1.17 · 8%
478
Medicare services in 2024 · #3604 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.
26426 compared with similar codes
Office rates for California, from the same CMS release.
No office rate
Both describe secondary finger extensor tendon repair; 26428 includes use of a free graft, while 26426 is without one.
No office rate
26420 is primary finger extensor tendon repair with a free graft. 26426 is secondary repair without a free graft.
Compare 26426 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 $486.78 |
| Chico | Office Unavailable | Facility $483.52 |
| El Centro | Office Unavailable | Facility $483.71 |
| Fresno | Office Unavailable | Facility $483.52 |
| Hanford-Corcoran | Office Unavailable | Facility $483.52 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (Los Angeles/Orange Cnty) | Office Unavailable | Facility $513.57 |
| Madera | Office Unavailable | Facility $483.52 |
| Merced | Office Unavailable | Facility $483.52 |
| Modesto | Office Unavailable | Facility $483.52 |
| Napa | Office Unavailable | Facility $543.20 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura | Office Unavailable | Facility $509.06 |
| Redding | Office Unavailable | Facility $483.52 |
| Rest Of California | Office Unavailable | Facility $483.52 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario | Office Unavailable | Facility $496.11 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom | Office Unavailable | Facility $502.91 |
| Salinas | Office Unavailable | Facility $500.96 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad | Office Unavailable | Facility $509.54 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley (Marin Cnty) | Office Unavailable | Facility $569.13 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley (San Francisco/San Mateo/Alameda/Contra Costa Cnty) | Office Unavailable | Facility $567.80 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (San Benito Cnty) | Office Unavailable | Facility $582.62 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (Santa Clara Cnty) | Office Unavailable | Facility $577.19 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles | Office Unavailable | Facility $493.46 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville | Office Unavailable | Facility $511.84 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara | Office Unavailable | Facility $501.96 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma | Office Unavailable | Facility $516.70 |
| Stockton | Office Unavailable | Facility $483.52 |
| Vallejo | Office Unavailable | Facility $541.28 |
| Visalia | Office Unavailable | Facility $483.52 |
| Yuba City | Office Unavailable | Facility $483.52 |
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26426 billing questions
How does this differ from 26418?
26426 is for secondary repair without a free graft. 26418 describes primary repair without a free graft.
When is 26428 a better fit?
Use 26428 when the secondary finger extensor tendon repair uses a free graft. Document graft use and the repair performed.
How many units should be reported?
The code is reported per tendon repaired. The operative report should identify the finger and tendon or tendons treated.
Can modifier 50 be used for repairs on both hands?
No. CMS identifies bilateral adjustment as inappropriate for this code; modifier 50 does not apply.
Is an assistant surgeon payable?
No. CMS lists a statutory restriction on assistant-at-surgery payment for this service.
What postoperative care is included?
The 90-day global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care.
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.
2,58826416,,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
2,59326432,,Repair finger tendon,A,,4.06,11.40,NA,11.40,,0.79,16.25,16.25,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
2,59426433,,Repair finger tendon,A,,4.58,11.53,NA,11.53,,0.89,17.00,17.00,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00