localis

Describe a service in plain words, or type a CPT/HCPCS code.

Q4 2026 starts Oct 1, 2026. Preview changes

Preview this code · Quarterly changes

CPT 34839

Bundled / not separately paid

34839 · PFS Q3 2026

Status B is not separately payable under the PFS.

View applicable payment rules

Not at a published national rate. CPT 34839 carries status B (bundled) in the Q3 2026 release. Medicare folds payment for this code into the service it is incident to, never onto its own line. Treat the blank amount as unpriced, not as $0.

PFS status evidence

Inspect PFS status evidence
Code
34839
Release
Q3 2026, revision 1
Result
Bundled / not separately paid

Citations

  • Establishes the PFS status (B) and the resulting pathway for this code: bundled / not separately paid.

    Physician relative value file (PPRRVU)

    Q3 2026 · revision 1

    Latest revision of this release

    Release period: July 1 – September 30, 2026

    This PFS record alone does not establish a $0 allowance or a coverage determination. Any amount from another schedule needs its own evidence.

    Record details PPRRVU2026_Jul_nonQPP.csv in rvu26c-updated-06-30-2026.zip (row 4,174)
    hcpcs (col 1)
    34839
    modifier (col 2)
    blank
    status_code (col 4)
    B

    SHA-256: b7d197e73211ef6854c213c267d5fa9dec8df995db8e1ee7d44c0556ad7cee21

    Original source file

Compact facts

Why is there no national PFS amount for 34839?

Its status indicator is B (bundled). Medicare folds payment for this code into the service it is incident to, never onto its own line. Status B is not separately payable under the PFS.

Payment considerations Copy link

Review the applicable inputs and payment rules. Each link opens the supporting detail on this page.

Other payment indicators (8)

Facility/non-facility: Not determined, Professional/technical component: Does not apply, Bilateral adjustment: Does not apply, Multiple-procedure reduction: Does not apply, Assistant/co-surgeon treatment: Does not apply, MUE behavior: Not determined, Other fee-schedule routing: Does not apply, Contractor pricing: Does not apply.

Why a 34839 line may not pay separately Copy link

CMS publishes no separately payable amount for 34839 in this release, so reconciling the line means establishing which status governed the date of service rather than chasing a fee-schedule difference.

What to reconcile

  • Confirm the status that governed the date of service before working this line as a short payment—CMS publishes no separately payable fee-schedule amount for it in this release.
  • Ask the MAC which global period it assigned: the contractor sets the follow-up window for this code, so whether a post-operative visit should have paid depends on the contractor that priced it.
  • Check for documentation on file before appealing an assistant-at-surgery denial: payment on the -80 or -AS line is restricted for this procedure unless medical necessity is established.
  • Reprice the line against the release, locality, setting, modifier and participation status that applied to the date of service before treating any difference as an underpayment.

Nearby payment lines

National Q3 2026 amounts at GPCI 1.000. A blank means this schedule does not publish a payable PFS amount.

No comparison lines are present in this release.

Sources: CMS Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Relative Value Files; CMS Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Relative Value Files (status indicator field); CMS Medicare Claims Processing Manual (Pub. 100-04); 42 USC 1395w-4(i)(2) (SSA §1848(i)(2))—Assistants-at-surgery.

Payment rules

Global period: what 34839's fee already covers Copy link

YYY Contractor decides

Your Medicare Administrative Contractor decides whether a global period applies and sets its length when it prices the code. The result is 0, 10, or 90 days.

Billing policy Copy link

What 34839's billing-policy indicators mean. These show for every code, priced or not: a restriction like "bilateral not allowed" still matters on a carrier-priced code.

Policy Value What it means
Bilateral surgery 0 No bilateral adjustment. The 150% bilateral payment adjustment does not apply to this procedure.
Assistant at surgery 0 Restricted without documentation. Payment for an assistant at surgery is restricted for this procedure unless supporting documentation establishes medical necessity.
Co-surgeons 0 Not permitted. Medicare does not recognize co-surgeons (modifier 62) for this procedure.
Team surgery 0 Not permitted. Medicare does not recognize a surgical team (modifier 66) for this procedure.
Multiple procedures 0 No reduction. No payment reduction applies when this procedure is billed with other procedures on the same date—each is treated as unrelated.
Professional/technical split 0 No PC/TC split. This is a physician service code; the professional/technical split does not apply, and the code is billed as a single service.

Can you bill it with another code? Copy link

Enter a second CPT or HCPCS code billed on the same date of service. We'll check the current NCCI procedure-to-procedure edit between it and 34839.

See every current NCCI pair for 34839 →

Billing together (NCCI edits) Copy link

NCCI Q3 2026

Based on CMS's National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI). A few examples appear here; use the complete edit page to check a specific pair.

Not separately payable with 34839 on the same date of service—no modifier bypasses the edit (modifier indicator 0)

0213T 0213T denies
0216T 0216T denies
0694T 0694T denies

Showing 3 of 77.

Separately payable with 34839 only when an NCCI-associated modifier is appropriate and documented (modifier indicator 1)

0596T 0596T denies
0597T 0597T denies
0708T 0708T denies

Showing 3 of 148.

Modifier 59 and the X modifiers are not a universal bypass—CMS expects the most specific applicable modifier, and which one that is depends on the pair and the documented circumstances.

Check a paired code or view all 225 NCCI pairs →

Common payment questions Copy link

Why would a Medicare claim for 34839 be denied or paid less?

These come from CMS indicators on this page, not general billing advice.

  • Its status indicator is B (bundled)—Medicare folds payment for this code into the service it is incident to, never onto its own line. See status indicators
  • 77 codes form NCCI pairs with 34839 carrying modifier indicator 0—no NCCI-associated modifier bypasses the edit, so billed together on the same date of service, a line of the pair denies. See billing together
  • 148 codes pair with 34839 under modifier indicator 1—separately payable only when an NCCI-associated modifier (59, or a more specific XE, XS, XP, or XU) is clinically appropriate and the documentation supports a distinct service; without one, a line of the pair denies. See billing together
  • Bilateral surgery: no bilateral adjustment. See billing policy
  • Assistant at surgery: restricted without documentation. See billing policy
  • Co-surgeons: not permitted. See billing policy
  • Team surgery: not permitted. See billing policy

Payer-specific coverage and documentation rules live outside these files, so a claim that clears every check here can still be denied on other grounds.

History

Rate history by release Copy link

National non-facility amount for 34839 across quarterly releases.

Release Status Non-facility Facility
Q4 2026 takes effect Oct 1, 2026 B
Q3 2026 Jul 1, 2026 – Sep 30, 2026 B
Q2 2026 Apr 1, 2026 – Jun 30, 2026 B
When does this rate change?

CMS publishes a fee schedule release every quarter (January, April, July, October), and each is versioned here. See what changed each release, or get an email when a new release moves rates.

Sources: CMS Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Relative Value Files.

Did this answer your question about CPT 34839?

We're building this out in the open. Tell us what you were actually trying to work out and we'll either answer you directly or build the page that does.

Did this page answer your question?

Source & method

Show sources

This page uses CMS's Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Q3 2026 release (effective July 2026). National baselines use GPCI 1.000 and exclude sequestration. Status and payment instructions determine whether a national amount is established; blank RVUs stay blank. Releases are immutable: historical evidence remains tied to the specified release. Our methodology covers the depth: sourcing, parsing, versioning, and how we cross-check claims before they ship.

Use the (i) buttons next to each amount above for the exact row, columns, and math.

Cite this rate

This citation identifies the source release, so its evidence remains reproducible after a newer release lands.

CPT 34839 National PFS baseline: No national PFS rate (Q3 2026; participating; whole service; GPCI 1.000; sequestration excluded). Localis. https://localishealth.com/cpt/34839/2026/C