20938 Sp bone agrft struct add-on
What 20938 is
CMS fee schedule short descriptor: Sp bone agrft struct add-on.
Full CPT long descriptions are licensed by the American Medical Association and are not published on this site; the short descriptor above is the one CMS prints in its own fee schedule file. See About CPT.
Medicare payment for 20938 (CY2026)
| Work RVU | Practice expense RVU | Malpractice RVU | Total | Medicare rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-facility (office) | 2.94 | 0.99 | 0.96 | 4.89 | $163.33 |
| Facility (hospital, ASC) | 2.94 | 0.99 | 0.96 | 4.89 | $163.33 |
National rates: total RVUs x the CY2026 conversion factor of 33.4009 (non-QP), before geographic adjustment. Actual Medicare payment is 80% of the rate shown after the deductible; the patient or secondary payer owes the 20% coinsurance.
Status: Active - payable under the Physician Fee Schedule. Global period: Add-on code: global period of the primary procedure applies.
Medically Unlikely Edit (MUE)
Medicare caps 20938 at 1 unit per date of service for practitioner claims (MAI 2 - date of service edit (absolute): units above the MUE never pay), rationale: Code Descriptor / CPT Instruction. Units above the cap are denied unless the edit's adjudication rules allow an appeal with documentation.
Billed with 20938? These codes are bundled into it
20938 is a Column 1 code in 9 active NCCI PTP edits. When one of these Column 2 codes is reported on the same date of service, it is denied as bundled - unless the edit's modifier indicator is 1 and documentation supports a distinct service with an NCCI-associated modifier.
| Column 2 code | Short description | Modifier indicator | |
|---|---|---|---|
11010 | Debride skin at fx site | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
11011 | Debride skin musc at fx site | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
11012 | Deb skin bone at fx site | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
36591 | Draw blood off venous device | 0 - no modifier bypass | Check pair |
36592 | Collect blood from picc | 0 - no modifier bypass | Check pair |
38220 | Dx bone marrow aspirations | 0 - no modifier bypass | Check pair |
38221 | Dx bone marrow biopsies | 1 - modifier may bypass | Check pair |
38222 | Dx bone marrow bx & aspir | 0 - no modifier bypass | Check pair |
96523 | Irrig drug delivery device | 0 - no modifier bypass | Check pair |
20938 is bundled into these codes
20938 appears as a Column 2 code in 5 active edits. Reported with one of these Column 1 codes on the same date of service, 20938 is the code that denies.
| Column 1 code | Short description | Modifier indicator | |
|---|---|---|---|
20932 | Osteoart algrft w/surf & b1 | 1 | Check pair |
20933 | Hemicrt intrclry algrft prtl | 1 | Check pair |
20934 | Intercalary algrft compl | 1 | Check pair |
22318 | Treat odontoid fx w/o graft | 1 | Check pair |
22586 | Arthrd pre-sac ntrbdy l5-s1 | 1 | Check pair |
Data: CMS CY2026 Physician Fee Schedule RVU file (October release, RVU26D) and Medicare NCCI PTP practitioner edits v32.3 (2026 Q4). Verify against the official files before billing or contracting decisions.