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Q4 2026 takes effect Oct 1, 2026. CMS published it early. Dates of service before then use the current release—see the current CPT 87046 rate.

CPT 87046

Priced under CLFS

87046 · PFS Q4 2026 · Upcoming

Status X is not separately payable under the PFS.

View applicable payment rules
View CMS source and method

CMS published status X (statutory exclusion) for CPT 87046 in the Q4 2026 Physician Fee Schedule, with no national PFS amount. These figures take effect for dates of service beginning Oct 1, 2026. Treat the blank amount as unpriced, not as $0.

PFS status evidence

Physician relative value file (Q4 2026) · rvu26d-updated-08-26-2026.zip (PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv row 10,847)
Inspect PFS status evidence
Code
87046
Release
Q4 2026, revision 2
Result
Priced under CLFS

Citations

  • Shows this code’s PFS status (X). Result: Priced under CLFS.

    Physician relative value file (PPRRVU)

    Q4 2026 · revision 2

    Latest revision of this release

    Release period: October 1 – December 31, 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_Oct_nonQPP.csv in rvu26d-updated-08-26-2026.zip (row 10,847)
    hcpcs (col 1)
    87046
    modifier (col 2)
    blank
    status_code (col 4)
    X

    SHA-256: 4d0d3f19bd954ffc0f5b8439169d267da023d4f6911f4539bb6e98723cb1a626

    Original source file

Plain-text summary

Why is there no national PFS amount for 87046?

Its status indicator is X (statutory exclusion). The statutory definition of physician services does not include this item. Status X is not separately payable under the PFS.

Payment considerations Copy link

Here are the inputs and payment rules that apply to this code. Each link takes you to the detail below.

NCCI same-day edits Applies MUE behavior Applies Other fee-schedule routing Applies
Other payment indicators (7)

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, Global surgery: Does not apply, Contractor pricing: Does not apply.

Why would a Medicare claim for 87046 be denied or paid less?

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

  • Its status indicator is X (statutory exclusion)—The statutory definition of physician services does not include this item. See status indicators
  • 1 code forms an NCCI pair with 87046 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
  • 6 codes pair with 87046 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
  • More than 6 units per patient per date of service exceeds 87046's Medically Unlikely Edit (MUE) limit. See billing together

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.

Which billing rules and modifiers apply? Copy link

Global period: what 87046's fee already covers Copy link

XXX Does not apply

The global surgery concept does not apply to this code.

Can you bill it with another code? Copy link

Check a pair of codes 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 for the pair.

See every current NCCI pair for 87046 →

Billing together (NCCI edits) Copy link

NCCI Q4 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 87046 on the same date of service—no modifier bypasses the edit (modifier indicator 0)

96523 96523 denies

Separately payable with 87046 only when an NCCI-associated modifier is appropriate and documented (modifier indicator 1)

87070 87070 denies
87071 87071 denies
87073 87073 denies

Showing 3 of 6.

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 7 NCCI pairs →

Medically Unlikely Edit (MUE) limit: 6 units per patient per date of service.

How has it changed? Copy link

Rate history by release Copy link

National Office (non-facility) amount for 87046 across quarterly releases.

Release Status Office Facility
Q4 2026 takes effect Oct 1, 2026 X — —
Q3 2026 Jul 1, 2026 – Sep 30, 2026 X — —
Q2 2026 Apr 1, 2026 – Jun 30, 2026 X — —
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.

Usage and related codes Copy link

How often 87046 is billed Copy link

Across Original Medicare in CY2024, 87046 ranked #992 of the 7,879 CPT codes billed to Medicare that year, by patients served or total allowed dollars.

Beneficiaries
75,581
Office + facility beneficiaries combined
Services
113,133
Times it was billed
Allowed
$1.0M
Total Medicare allowed dollars
Compare: ↑ #989 more popular · 94664 ↓ #994 less popular · 36907

2024 Medicare fee-for-service national totals. They exclude Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and commercial volume, so real-world use runs higher. This is a calendar-year snapshot from the CMS Physician & Other Practitioners dataset, on a different cycle from the Q4 2026 fee schedule above.

Did this answer your question about CPT 87046?

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Source & method

Show sources

This page uses CMS's Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Q4 2026 release (effective October 2026). National baselines use GPCI 1.000 and exclude sequestration. Whether a national amount exists depends on the status and CMS’s payment instructions; blank RVUs are never treated as zero. Past releases are never edited, so these sources stay valid after CMS publishes a newer one. Our methodology explains sourcing, parsing, versioning, and how we cross-check claims before we publish them.

Physician relative value file (Q4 2026) · rvu26d-updated-08-26-2026.zip (PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv row 10,847)

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

Cite this rate

The citation names the release, so anyone can check it even after CMS publishes a newer one.

CPT 87046 National PFS baseline: No national PFS rate (Q4 2026; participating; whole service; GPCI 1.000; sequestration excluded). Localis. https://localishealth.com/cpt/87046/2026/D