Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair Cost
Sho arthrs srg rt8tr cuf rpr
$8,390Hospital outpatient total2026 Medicare, physician + facilityUnder 2026 Medicare rates, an arthroscopic rotator cuff repair costs about $8,390 in total at a hospital outpatient department or about $4,672 at an ambulatory surgery center, counting both the physician and the facility. The physician's own fee is about $976 of that, and a ZIP code adjusts every figure to your area.
- ✓Your ZIP's wage-adjusted hospital and surgery center rates
- ✓Five nearby hospitals by name, with CMS star ratings
- ✓The add-on codes that typically land on the bill
- ✓A word-for-word script for asking for a good-faith estimate
- ✓A private link you can reopen and share
- ✓Everything in the Premium report
- ✓15 nearby hospitals instead of five
- ✓Filled good-faith-estimate request letter
- ✓Bill-negotiation letter
- ✓Printable PDF download
National Medicare physician rate (2026)
What the whole procedure costs
The rate above is the physician’s fee on its own. The facility bills separately, and for most procedures the facility is the larger half of the bill. These are 2026 national Medicare amounts.
Choosing a surgery center over a hospital saves about $3,718 on the Medicare allowed amount for arthroscopic rotator cuff repair. Ask whether your procedure can be done at an ambulatory surgery center.
Medicare pays the hospital a single comprehensive amount for this procedure, covering the facility's share of the encounter including implants and supplies. Medicare allowed amounts are not what an uninsured patient is charged, and not a quote. Private plans typically allow more.
Get the rate for your ZIP
CMS adjusts this CPT by locality. A five-digit ZIP is enough: no account, no insurance card.
What arthroscopic rotator cuff repair costs at hospitals near you
Everything above is a national average. The hospital you pick in your area moves the bill more than anything else you control.
Rates for your ZIP, 5 named hospitals with CMS ratings, the add-on codes, and the scheduler script.
For example 90001.
One-off payment, no account and no subscription. You get a private link and an email. No medical records and no insurance card, ever.
What these numbers are
Every figure on this page is a 2026 Medicare allowed amount: the physician line comes from the Physician Fee Schedule adjusted by geographic practice-cost indices, and the facility totals come from the CMS hospital outpatient (OPPS) and ambulatory surgery center rates. None of them is a hospital chargemaster price, your insurer's contracted rate, or a quote. Anesthesia, pathology, imaging reads and follow-up care are billed under their own codes when they apply, and an inpatient stay is paid a different way again.
How CMS prices CPT 29827
Work is about 52% of the office total RVU; practice expense is about 38%. Localities with a high PE GPCI move this code more when practice expense is a large share.
Office vs hospital for this code
Office (non-facility) physician rate: $976.31. Hospital (facility) physician rate: $976.31.
Medicare patients typically owe 20% of the allowed amount after the Part B deductible, about $195 for the office physician fee, before any Medigap coverage. That coinsurance does not include a hospital facility fee.
Labeled private-plan and cash ranges on this page are arithmetic multiples of Medicare, not negotiated quotes. Ask the billing office for the CPT code, the site of service, and a good-faith estimate.
Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair cost by state
2026 Medicare office rate for CPT 29827, averaged across each state's localities. Open a state for its locality table and full cost breakdown.
What Is Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair?
Arthroscopic rotator cuff repair reattaches torn rotator cuff tendons to the top of the upper arm bone, using a small camera and instruments passed through several small incisions around the shoulder. The surgeon usually places small anchors in the bone and uses stitches to pull the tendon back into position. It is normally an outpatient operation under general anesthesia, often with a nerve block for pain, followed by several weeks in a sling and months of physical therapy.
What Affects the Cost
- –Extra work in the same operation, such as shaving a bone spur (subacromial decompression) or treating the biceps tendon, adds codes and cost.
- –Hospital outpatient departments usually charge a much higher facility fee than surgery centers for the same repair.
- –Anesthesia, including any nerve block, is billed separately by the anesthesia provider.
- –Suture anchors and other implants are included in the facility payment, but the number used can affect a facility's cash price.
- –Physical therapy afterward is billed per visit and often runs for several months.
How It Is Billed
CPT 29827 covers the surgeon's arthroscopic repair of the rotator cuff. Bone spur removal (subacromial decompression, 29826) is an add-on code billed with it, and other work in the same shoulder, such as a biceps tenodesis, has its own codes. The surgeon's fee includes 90 days of routine post-operative care, while anesthesia and the facility bill separately.
Insurance & Coverage Notes
Plans cover rotator cuff repair for a documented tear that causes pain or weakness, and many commercial plans require prior authorization, often after a trial of physical therapy or other conservative treatment. Medicare covers it when it is medically necessary. Expect your surgical deductible and coinsurance to apply to the surgeon, the facility and anesthesia separately, and budget for physical therapy copays afterward.
Questions to Ask Before Booking
- 1.Does my tear need surgery, or is physical therapy worth trying first?
- 2.Will you also treat a bone spur or the biceps tendon, and how does that change the bill?
- 3.Can the operation be done at a surgery center instead of a hospital?
- 4.Will I get a nerve block, and is the anesthesia group in my network?
- 5.How many physical therapy visits should I expect, and does my plan cover them?
Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair (CPT 29827): questions
Under 2026 Medicare rates, an arthroscopic rotator cuff repair costs about $8,390 in total at a hospital outpatient department or about $4,672 at an ambulatory surgery center, counting both the physician and the facility. The physician's own fee is about $976 of that, and a ZIP code adjusts every figure to your area.
For CPT 29827 the office and hospital physician rates are essentially the same ($976.31). The hospital will still usually add a separate facility fee that this page does not show.
Arthroscopic rotator cuff repair reattaches torn rotator cuff tendons to the top of the upper arm bone, using a small camera and instruments passed through several small incisions around the shoulder. The surgeon usually places small anchors in the bone and uses stitches to pull the tendon back into position. It is normally an outpatient operation under general anesthesia, often with a nerve block for pain, followed by several weeks in a sling and months of physical therapy. CMS bills it as “Sho arthrs srg rt8tr cuf rpr.”
Not on its own. $976.31 is the physician allowed amount in a facility. Medicare also pays the facility, which takes the total to about $8,390 in a hospital outpatient department or about $4,672 at an ambulatory surgery center. Anesthesia, pathology and imaging interpretation billed under other codes are separate again. Private-plan allowed amounts are often higher than Medicare; your deductible and coinsurance still apply.
For cash-pay surgery shopping, use this CPT as the Medicare floor when you compare written quotes. How cash-price shopping works.