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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01

20555 Muscle marker placement Medicare reimbursement rates in Nebraska

Reports needle placement and radiopaque substance injection into muscle or tendon tissue to mark a target, commonly for radiation therapy localization. Compare 20555 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Nebraska.

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 20555 in Nebraska?

Nebraska 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

$264.71

1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.

Payment area: Nebraska

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.

Find 20555 in your payment locality →

Musculoskeletal procedure

About 20555: Radiopaque marker placement in muscle or tendon

Reports needle placement and radiopaque substance injection into muscle or tendon tissue to mark a target, commonly for radiation therapy localization.

A clinician places one or more needles into muscle, trigger-point, or tendon tissue and injects radiopaque material to identify the target on imaging. A typical use is marking a muscle or tendon before radiation therapy. The service may be performed by a physician involved in treatment planning or image-guided procedures in a hospital or other setting where the target needs localization.

Choose this code when the purpose is radiopaque marking, not treatment of muscle pain or tendon inflammation. Document the target tissue, needle placement, and the radiopaque material used; include the localization purpose and any imaging guidance performed. The 0-day global period includes same-day preoperative and postoperative care. When multiple procedures occur in one session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and the others are subject to the standard 50% reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate for this code. Assistant-at-surgery payment requires documented medical necessity; co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.

CMS billing rules for 20555

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 adjustment does not apply; the descriptor or anatomy makes modifier 50 inappropriate.
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 RVU5.85 · 70%
  • Practice expense (office) RVU2.06 · 25%
  • Malpractice RVU0.46 · 5%

15

Medicare services in 2024 · #6055 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.

20555 compared with similar codes

Office rates for Nebraska, from the same CMS release.

20552

Trigger point injection

One or two muscles

$48.16

Use 20552 for therapeutic injection of one or more trigger points in one or two muscles. Use 20555 when radiopaque material is injected to mark tissue for localization.

20553

Trigger point injection

Three or more muscles

$55.61

Use 20553 for therapeutic trigger-point injections involving three or more muscles. It is not the marker-placement code for radiation target localization.

20560

Dry needling

1-2 muscles

$23.43

20560 describes dry needling without injection for one or two muscles. It does not describe injecting radiopaque material to mark a target.

Compare 20555 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

Office and facility base rates · shared scale starting at $0

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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 20555 in Nebraska.

PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv

1,763

Code
20555
Physician work
5.85
Practice expense
2.06
Malpractice
0.46

GPCI2026.csv

72

Locality
Nebraska
Physician work
1.000
Practice expense
0.923
Malpractice
0.378
Facility calculation for 20555 in Nebraska
ComponentRVULocality factorAdjusted
Physician work5.85× 1.0005.8500
Practice expense2.06× 0.9231.9014
Malpractice0.46× 0.3780.1739
Total RVUs7.9253
Conversion factor× 33.4009

Facility rate, Nebraska$264.71

Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula

Facility

Facility calculation inputs
ComponentRVULocal GPCI
Work5.851
Practice expense2.060.923
Malpractice0.460.378

(5.85 × 1 + 2.06 × 0.923 + 0.46 × 0.378) × $33.4009 = $264.71

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.

20555 billing questions

How is this different from a trigger-point injection?

This code is for placing radiopaque material to mark muscle or tendon tissue, commonly for localization before radiation therapy. Codes 20552 and 20553 describe therapeutic trigger-point injections, selected by the number of treated trigger points.

Can needle guidance be reported with this procedure?

A separately performed imaging guidance service may be relevant, such as fluoroscopic needle guidance with 77002. Document the guidance modality and service; do not infer separate reporting from needle placement alone.

Should modifier 50 be used when marking both sides?

No. CMS identifies bilateral adjustment as inappropriate for this code, so modifier 50 should not be used.

What does the 0-day global period include?

Same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included. Care on a later date is outside that same-day global period.

What supports reporting this code?

The record should identify the muscle, trigger-point, or tendon target, the needle placement and radiopaque material, and the purpose of marking the tissue. Record any imaging guidance that was performed.

Can an assistant or another surgeon be reported?

Assistant-at-surgery payment requires documentation of medical necessity. Co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.

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.

RVUs for 20555PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv, line 1,763 (RVU26D)
Geographic factors for NebraskaGPCI2026.csv, line 72 (RVU26D)
Open CMS sourceHow this rate is calculatedBuild a fee sheet