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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01

29889 PCL surgery Medicare reimbursement rates in New Mexico

Reports arthroscopically aided repair, augmentation, or reconstruction of the posterior cruciate ligament to address injury-related knee instability. Compare 29889 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in New Mexico.

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 29889 in New Mexico?

New Mexico 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

$1119.60

1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.

Payment area: New Mexico

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 29889 in your payment locality →

Orthopedic surgery

About 29889: Arthroscopic posterior cruciate ligament repair or reconstruction

Reports arthroscopically aided repair, augmentation, or reconstruction of the posterior cruciate ligament to address injury-related knee instability.

An orthopedic surgeon uses arthroscopic visualization to repair or reinforce an injured posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), or reconstruct it when the ligament cannot provide adequate stability. The procedure is typically performed in an operating room for a patient with a PCL injury and persistent knee instability. Arthroscopic assistance means the surgeon uses a scope and instruments through portals while performing the ligament work.

Report this code for the PCL procedure, not for anterior cruciate ligament work or meniscal treatment alone. The operative report should identify the PCL as the treated structure and describe the arthroscopic repair, augmentation, or reconstruction. Medicare assigns a 90-day global period, including the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care. When multiple procedures are performed in the same 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 may be made; co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation, and team surgery is not permitted.

CMS billing rules for 29889

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 RVU16.97 · 50%
  • Practice expense (office) RVU13.32 · 39%
  • Malpractice RVU3.61 · 11%

63

Medicare services in 2024 · #5209 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.

29889 compared with similar codes

Office rates for New Mexico, from the same CMS release.

29888

ACL surgery

Arthroscopically assisted

No office rate

Use 29889 for arthroscopically aided PCL repair, augmentation, or reconstruction; use 29888 when the treated cruciate ligament is the ACL.

29882

Meniscus repair

Medial or lateral

No office rate

Code 29882 reports arthroscopic repair of one meniscus, not repair or reconstruction of the PCL.

29883

Meniscus repair

Medial and lateral

No office rate

Code 29883 reports arthroscopic repair of both menisci. It does not describe PCL ligament surgery.

Compare 29889 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 29889 in New Mexico.

PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv

3,370

Code
29889
Physician work
16.97
Practice expense
13.32
Malpractice
3.61

GPCI2026.csv

77

Locality
New Mexico
Physician work
1.000
Practice expense
0.917
Malpractice
1.201
Facility calculation for 29889 in New Mexico
ComponentRVULocality factorAdjusted
Physician work16.97× 1.00016.9700
Practice expense13.32× 0.91712.2144
Malpractice3.61× 1.2014.3356
Total RVUs33.5201
Conversion factor× 33.4009

Facility rate, New Mexico$1119.60

Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula

Facility

Facility calculation inputs
ComponentRVULocal GPCI
Work16.971
Practice expense13.320.917
Malpractice3.611.201

(16.97 × 1 + 13.32 × 0.917 + 3.61 × 1.201) × $33.4009 = $1119.60

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.

29889 billing questions

How is this code different from 29888?

This code is for arthroscopically aided work on the posterior cruciate ligament. Code 29888 is for the corresponding procedure on the anterior cruciate ligament.

Does this code include the arthroscopic access and visualization?

The code describes an arthroscopically aided PCL procedure. Do not report a separate diagnostic arthroscopy for routine visualization of the same knee during that procedure.

Can meniscal surgery be reported during the same session?

A separately performed meniscal repair or meniscectomy may be reported when documented as distinct treatment of a meniscal condition. Same-session multiple procedures are subject to Medicare's multiple procedure reduction.

How should bilateral PCL procedures be reported?

For procedures performed on both knees, report modifier 50; CMS pays the bilateral procedure at 150%.

What documentation supports reporting this code?

Document the PCL injury and the arthroscopically aided repair, augmentation, or reconstruction performed. The operative report should distinguish PCL treatment from ACL or meniscal work.

How are assistant and co-surgeon claims handled?

Assistant-at-surgery payment may be made. Co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation; team surgery is 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 29889PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv, line 3,370 (RVU26D)
Geographic factors for New MexicoGPCI2026.csv, line 77 (RVU26D)