$29.11–$34.53
65205 is for a superficial conjunctival particle. Choose 65210 when the foreign body is embedded in conjunctival tissue.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
65210 Eye foreign body removal Medicare reimbursement rates in California
Report this service when an ophthalmologist removes a foreign body embedded in the conjunctiva, rather than a superficial conjunctival or corneal particle. Compare 65210 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 65210 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
$39.61–$47.46
29 of 29 localities have a supported rate.
Lowest: Chico
Highest: San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (San Benito Cnty)
A spread of $7.85 per service.
Facility setting
$30.83–$35.90
29 of 29 localities have a supported rate.
Lowest: Chico
Highest: San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (San Benito Cnty)
A spread of $5.07 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 65210 pays more and less in California
29 payment localities
$39.61 to $47.46
Ophthalmology
About 65210: Embedded conjunctival foreign body removal
Report this service when an ophthalmologist removes a foreign body embedded in the conjunctiva, rather than a superficial conjunctival or corneal particle.
This procedure removes material lodged within the conjunctiva, the membrane lining the eyelids and covering the white of the eye. The clinician may need to make an incision to free the embedded material; a loose particle resting on the surface is a different service. Ophthalmologists commonly perform the removal in an office or outpatient setting after identifying the foreign body and its location.
Choose this code based on the conjunctival site and embedded depth, not simply because an object was removed from the eye. Document the affected eye, the conjunctival location, evidence that the material was embedded, and the work performed to extract it. The 0-day global period includes same-day preoperative and postoperative care. When multiple procedures occur in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and others at 50%. Bilateral reporting with modifier 50 is paid at 150%. Medicare does not pay an assistant at surgery; co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.
CMS billing rules for 65210
- Global period
- Minor procedure with a 0-day global period: same-day preoperative and postoperative care is 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
- 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 RVU0.59 · 52%
- Practice expense (office) RVU0.52 · 46%
- Malpractice RVU0.03 · 3%
11.8K
Medicare services in 2024 · #1382 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.
65210 compared with similar codes
Office rates for California, from the same CMS release.
$66.78–$82.10
65220 addresses a corneal foreign body removed without slit-lamp assistance. Use 65210 for embedded conjunctival material.
$70.30–$86.02
65222 addresses corneal foreign-body removal with slit-lamp assistance; it is not the code for an embedded conjunctival foreign body.
Compare 65210 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 $39.73 | Facility $30.94 |
| Chico | Office $39.61 | Facility $30.83 |
| El Centro | Office $39.62 | Facility $30.83 |
| Fresno | Office $39.61 | Facility $30.83 |
| Hanford-Corcoran | Office $39.61 | Facility $30.83 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (Los Angeles/Orange Cnty) | Office $41.73 | Facility $32.24 |
| Madera | Office $39.61 | Facility $30.83 |
| Merced | Office $39.61 | Facility $30.83 |
| Modesto | Office $39.61 | Facility $30.83 |
| Napa | Office $44.35 | Facility $33.78 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura | Office $41.41 | Facility $31.94 |
| Redding | Office $39.61 | Facility $30.83 |
| Rest Of California | Office $39.61 | Facility $30.83 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario | Office $39.95 | Facility $31.17 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom | Office $41.15 | Facility $31.83 |
| Salinas | Office $40.98 | Facility $31.69 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad | Office $41.61 | Facility $32.03 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley (Marin Cnty) | Office $46.53 | Facility $35.23 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley (San Francisco/San Mateo/Alameda/Contra Costa Cnty) | Office $46.49 | Facility $35.19 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (San Benito Cnty) | Office $47.46 | Facility $35.90 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara (Santa Clara Cnty) | Office $47.32 | Facility $35.76 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles | Office $40.36 | Facility $31.23 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville | Office $41.76 | Facility $32.02 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara | Office $41.05 | Facility $31.70 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma | Office $42.16 | Facility $32.32 |
| Stockton | Office $39.61 | Facility $30.83 |
| Vallejo | Office $44.30 | Facility $33.73 |
| Visalia | Office $39.61 | Facility $30.83 |
| Yuba City | Office $39.61 | Facility $30.83 |
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65210 billing questions
How is 65210 different from 65205?
Use 65210 when the foreign body is embedded in the conjunctiva and requires removal from within the tissue. Code 65205 is for a superficial conjunctival particle.
What if the foreign body is in the cornea?
Use the corneal foreign-body code that matches the service: 65220 or 65222. Code 65210 describes an embedded conjunctival foreign body, not a corneal one.
Does the 0-day global period include same-day care?
Yes. Same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included in the procedure's 0-day global period.
How is removal from both eyes paid?
Report bilateral performance with modifier 50. CMS pays the bilateral procedure at 150%.
Can an assistant or co-surgeon be reported?
CMS does not pay an assistant at surgery for this code. Co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.
What documentation supports choosing 65210?
Record the affected eye, the conjunctival site, the embedded nature of the material, and how it was removed. These details distinguish the service from superficial conjunctival and corneal removal.
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.
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7,30365205,,Remove foreign body from eye,A,,0.48,0.34,,0.23,,0.02,0.84,0.73,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,1,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
7,30465210,,Remove foreign body from eye,A,,0.59,0.52,,0.28,,0.03,1.14,0.90,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,1,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
7,30565220,,Remove foreign body from eye,A,,0.69,1.14,,0.35,,0.09,1.92,1.13,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,1,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
7,30665222,,Remove foreign body from eye,A,,0.82,1.14,,0.39,,0.04,2.00,1.25,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,1,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
7,30765235,,Remove foreign body from eye,A,,8.78,9.54,NA,9.54,,0.71,19.03,19.03,0,090,0.10,0.70,0.20,2,1,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00