No office rate
Both include removal of the kidney, entire ureter, and bladder cuff. Choose 50234 when removal is through the same incision; 50236 describes a separate incision.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
50234 Kidney and ureter removal Medicare reimbursement rates in Illinois
Reports removal of a kidney, the entire ureter, and a bladder cuff through the same incision, commonly for upper tract urothelial malignancy. Compare 50234 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Illinois.
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 50234 in Illinois?
Illinois has 4 payment localities in this comparison. Use the service location to choose the applicable amount. These are the supported base rates for the 4 payment areas shown below, using the same CMS release.
Office / nonfacility
No supported rate
Facility setting
$1196.45–$1304.21
4 of 4 localities have a supported rate.
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 50234 pays more and less in Illinois
Urologic surgery
About 50234: Nephrectomy with total ureter removal
Reports removal of a kidney, the entire ureter, and a bladder cuff through the same incision, commonly for upper tract urothelial malignancy.
A urologist removes the kidney together with the full ureter and a cuff of bladder around the ureter’s opening, completing the removal through the same incision. This operation is commonly performed for upper tract urothelial carcinoma involving the renal pelvis or ureter. It is generally an operating-room procedure in a hospital setting.
Report this code when the operative record supports removal of the entire ureter and bladder cuff through the same incision; removal of only part of the ureter or use of a separate incision points to a different code. The 90-day global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care. When multiple procedures occur in the same session, the highest-valued is paid in full and others at 50%. Bilateral reporting with modifier 50 is paid at 150%. Assistant-at-surgery payment may be available; co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation, and team-surgery payment is not permitted.
CMS billing rules for 50234
- 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 may be paid.
- Co-surgeons
- Co-surgeons paid only with supporting documentation.
- Team surgery
- Team surgery not permitted.
Where the value comes from
- Work RVU23.45 · 67%
- Practice expense (office) RVU8.14 · 23%
- Malpractice RVU3.16 · 9%
198
Medicare services in 2024 · #4336 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.
50234 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Illinois, from the same CMS release.
No office rate
50220 covers kidney removal with partial ureterectomy. Use 50234 when the entire ureter and a bladder cuff are removed through the same incision.
No office rate
50230 describes radical nephrectomy with partial ureterectomy. It does not represent the total ureter and bladder cuff removal captured by 50234.
No office rate
50240 is a partial nephrectomy that preserves part of the kidney; 50234 removes the kidney along with the entire ureter and bladder cuff.
Compare 50234 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.
4 of 4 payment localities
Chicago →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$1304.21
East St. Louis →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$1245.96
Rest Of Illinois →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$1196.45
Suburban Chicago →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$1254.99
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50234 billing questions
How does this code differ from 50236?
The distinction is the incision: 50234 describes kidney, entire ureter, and bladder cuff removal through the same incision; 50236 is for a separate incision.
Is the bladder cuff included?
Yes. The service includes removal of the bladder cuff along with the kidney and entire ureter.
What operative documentation supports this code?
Document removal of the kidney, the entire ureter, and the bladder cuff, and specify that the procedure was completed through the same incision.
How is bilateral surgery reported?
CMS identifies this as a bilateral procedure; reporting modifier 50 is paid at 150%.
Can an assistant or co-surgeon be paid?
Assistant-at-surgery payment may be made. Co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation; team-surgery payment is not permitted.
What happens when another procedure is performed in the same session?
Under the standard multiple-procedure reduction, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and the other procedures are paid at 50%.
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.
5,88550220,,Remove kidney open,A,,18.21,7.59,NA,7.59,,3.04,28.84,28.84,0,090,0.08,0.83,0.09,2,1,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
5,88650225,,Removal kidney open complex,A,,21.33,7.64,NA,7.64,,2.75,31.72,31.72,0,090,0.08,0.83,0.09,2,1,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
5,88750230,,Removal kidney open radical,A,,23.21,7.73,NA,7.73,,3.27,34.21,34.21,0,090,0.08,0.83,0.09,2,1,2,2,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
5,88850234,,Removal of kidney & ureter,A,,23.45,8.14,NA,8.14,,3.16,34.75,34.75,0,090,0.08,0.83,0.09,2,1,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
5,88950236,,Removal of kidney & ureter,A,,26.27,9.50,NA,9.50,,3.37,39.14,39.14,0,090,0.08,0.83,0.09,2,1,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
5,89050240,,Nephrectomy partial,A,,23.60,8.87,NA,8.87,,3.18,35.65,35.65,0,090,0.08,0.83,0.09,2,1,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
5,89150250,,Opn abltj 1/> rnl mas crysrg,A,,21.66,8.14,NA,8.14,,2.78,32.58,32.58,0,090,0.08,0.83,0.09,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00