No office rate
Use 29866 for arthroscopic transfer of the patient’s own osteochondral tissue. Use 29867 for arthroscopic implantation of donor allograft tissue.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
29866 Cartilage restoration Medicare reimbursement rates in Delaware
Reports arthroscopic transfer of the patient's own osteochondral graft to treat a focal knee cartilage defect, including harvesting the graft. Compare 29866 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Delaware.
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 29866 in Delaware?
Delaware 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
$966.65
1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.
Payment area: Delaware
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.
Orthopedic surgery
About 29866: Arthroscopic knee osteochondral autograft transfer
Reports arthroscopic transfer of the patient's own osteochondral graft to treat a focal knee cartilage defect, including harvesting the graft.
This procedure transfers one or more plugs of the patient’s own bone and cartilage from a donor area of the knee to a focal cartilage defect, using arthroscopy. It is used for selected osteochondral lesions where replacing the damaged surface with the patient’s own tissue is appropriate. An orthopedic surgeon typically performs it in an operating room, most often in a hospital outpatient or ambulatory surgery setting. The graft harvest is part of the service.
Report the code when the operative documentation supports arthroscopic autograft transfer, rather than a different cartilage-restoration method or an allograft. Documentation should identify the defect, the autograft transfer, and the arthroscopic approach. CMS assigns a 90-day global period, including 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 are subject to the standard 50% reduction. Bilateral reporting with modifier 50 is paid at 150%. Assistant-at-surgery payment requires documented medical necessity; co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.
CMS billing rules for 29866
- 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 RVU14.30 · 49%
- Practice expense (office) RVU11.98 · 41%
- Malpractice RVU3.04 · 10%
17
Medicare services in 2024 · #6002 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.
29866 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Delaware, from the same CMS release.
No office rate
29879 describes abrasion arthroplasty, not transfer of an osteochondral plug. Select based on the technique documented in the operative report.
No office rate
27412 describes autologous chondrocyte implantation, a distinct cartilage-restoration procedure. It is not the arthroscopic transfer of osteochondral autograft plugs reported with 29866.
Compare 29866 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
Delaware →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$966.65
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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 29866 in Delaware.
PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv
3,350
- Code
- 29866
- Physician work
- 14.30
- Practice expense
- 11.98
- Malpractice
- 3.04
GPCI2026.csv
40
- Locality
- Delaware
- Physician work
- 1.005
- Practice expense
- 0.988
- Malpractice
- 0.899
| Component | RVU | Locality factor | Adjusted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physician work | 14.30 | × 1.005 | 14.3715 |
| Practice expense | 11.98 | × 0.988 | 11.8362 |
| Malpractice | 3.04 | × 0.899 | 2.7330 |
| Total RVUs | 28.9407 | ||
| Conversion factor | × 33.4009 | ||
Facility rate, Delaware$966.65
Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula
Facility
| Component | RVU | Local GPCI |
|---|---|---|
| Work | 14.3 | 1.005 |
| Practice expense | 11.98 | 0.988 |
| Malpractice | 3.04 | 0.899 |
(14.3 × 1.005 + 11.98 × 0.988 + 3.04 × 0.899) × $33.4009 = $966.65
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.
29866 billing questions
How does this differ from 29867?
29866 is for transfer of the patient’s own osteochondral tissue. 29867 describes arthroscopic implantation of an osteochondral allograft.
Is harvesting the graft separately reportable?
The graft harvest is included in 29866. The code covers arthroscopic autograft transfer, including obtaining the graft.
How is 29866 different from 29879?
29866 transfers osteochondral autograft tissue to a defect. 29879 is used for abrasion arthroplasty, a different cartilage-treatment technique.
What documentation supports reporting 29866?
The operative report should identify the focal defect, arthroscopic approach, and transfer of the patient’s own osteochondral graft. It should distinguish autograft transfer from allograft implantation or another cartilage procedure.
What is included in the global period?
The 90-day global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care.
Can an assistant or another surgeon be paid for this case?
Assistant-at-surgery payment requires documentation of medical necessity. CMS does not permit co-surgeon or team-surgery payment for this code.
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.
3,34729861,,Hip arthro w/fb removal,A,,9.85,8.01,NA,8.01,,1.82,19.68,19.68,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,3,1,2,1,0,9,29860,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,34829862,,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
3704112,CO,01,COLORADO,1.012,1.064,0.781
3813102,CT,00,CONNECTICUT,1.020,1.077,1.210
3912202,DC,01,DC + MD/VA SUBURBS,1.054,1.178,1.113
4012102,DE,01,DELAWARE,1.005,0.988,0.899
4109102,FL,03,FORT LAUDERDALE,1.000,1.013,1.808
4209102,FL,04,MIAMI,1.000,1.041,2.529
4309102,FL,99,REST OF FLORIDA,1.000,0.956,1.503