No office rate
Choose 20910 for cartilage harvested from a rib; 20912 is for cartilage harvested from the nasal septum.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
20910 Cartilage harvest Medicare reimbursement rates in Pennsylvania
Reports harvesting cartilage from a rib for grafting, such as structural support in nasal or other reconstructive surgery. Compare 20910 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Pennsylvania.
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 20910 in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania has 2 payment localities in this comparison. Use the service location to choose the applicable amount. These are the supported base rates for the 2 payment areas shown below, using the same CMS release.
Office / nonfacility
No supported rate
Facility setting
$441.70–$484.66
2 of 2 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.
Graft harvest
About 20910: Costal cartilage graft harvest
Reports harvesting cartilage from a rib for grafting, such as structural support in nasal or other reconstructive surgery.
This service covers obtaining costal cartilage from the patient for use as a graft. A surgeon typically harvests it through a donor-site incision during reconstructive surgery, including nasal reconstruction or rhinoplasty when additional structural cartilage is needed. The graft may provide support or shape at a separate recipient site; the operative report should identify the rib donor site and the graft procurement performed.
Report the code for costal cartilage harvest, rather than for septal cartilage or a bone, fascia, or tendon graft. Documentation should connect the harvested material to the grafting procedure and describe the donor-site work. CMS 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 multiple-procedure reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate. Assistant-at-surgery payment requires documented medical necessity; co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.
CMS billing rules for 20910
- 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 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 RVU5.39 · 39%
- Practice expense (office) RVU7.35 · 53%
- Malpractice RVU1.15 · 8%
67
Medicare services in 2024 · #5168 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.
20910 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Pennsylvania, from the same CMS release.
$373.95–$414.65
20900 represents bone graft harvest, not costal cartilage procurement.
No office rate
20902 is for bone graft harvest of a larger extent; it does not describe rib cartilage harvest.
No office rate
20920 represents fascia graft harvest. Use 20910 when the graft material obtained is costal cartilage.
Compare 20910 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.
2 of 2 payment localities
Metropolitan Philadelphia →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$484.66
Rest Of Pennsylvania →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$441.70
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20910 billing questions
How does this differ from 20912?
This code is for harvesting costal cartilage from a rib. Use 20912 when the graft is harvested from the nasal septum.
Can this be reported with the reconstruction that uses the graft?
It represents procurement of costal cartilage for grafting during reconstructive surgery. Document the donor-site work and the graft's role in the operative report.
Should modifier 50 be used when cartilage is taken from both sides?
No. CMS identifies bilateral adjustment as inappropriate for this code.
How does the 90-day global period affect postoperative billing?
The day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care are included in the global period.
Can an assistant surgeon or co-surgeon be reported?
Assistant-at-surgery payment is allowed only when medical necessity is documented. Co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.
What happens when this is performed with other procedures in the same session?
The highest-valued procedure is paid in full, and other procedures are subject to the standard multiple-procedure reduction.
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.
1,80320838,,Replantation foot complete,A,,41.81,23.93,NA,23.93,,8.93,74.67,74.67,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,1,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,80420900,,Removal of bone for graft,A,,2.93,8.51,,1.40,,0.48,11.92,4.81,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,80520902,,Removal of bone for graft,A,,4.47,1.94,NA,1.94,,0.83,7.24,7.24,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,80620910,,Remove cartilage for graft,A,,5.39,7.35,NA,7.35,,1.15,13.89,13.89,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,80720912,,Remove cartilage for graft,A,,6.38,5.65,NA,5.65,,1.00,13.03,13.03,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,0,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,80820920,,Removal of fascia for graft,A,,5.37,4.55,NA,4.55,,0.79,10.71,10.71,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,0,1,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1,80920922,,Removal of fascia for graft,A,,6.76,11.41,,5.82,,1.51,19.68,14.09,0,090,0.10,0.69,0.21,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00