20680 Medicaid reimbursement rate by state (2026)
Physician and practitioner services (fee schedule). Medicaid pays a median of $404.31 for 20680 across 50 states, from $9.30 in New Jersey to $1,029.44 in Alaska.
- States publishing
- 50
- National median
- $404.31units vary by state
- Lowest
- $9.30New Jersey
- Highest
- $1,029.44Alaska
What does Medicaid pay for 20680?
50 state Medicaid programs publish a fee-for-service rate for 20680. The national median is $404.31 (units differ between states). Alaska pays the most, $1,029.44, and New Jersey the least, $9.30 per base unit, a 110.7x spread.
Medicare (non-facility, 2026 physician fee schedule): $558.02–$814.76 depending on the state's Medicare locality.
20680 rate by state: highest, middle and lowest
One like-for-like fee-for-service rate per state, ranked. The workspace lists all 50 states with every variant, modifier and effective date.
How to read this table
- Order. States are listed from the highest published rate to the lowest. No single unit is shared by 8 or more states for 20680, so the order is by published amount and is not a like-for-like rank.
- Medicaid rate. The most the state's fee-for-service program pays for one unit, as published. 43 of the 50 states list more than one rate for 20680, by modifier, provider type or setting; the table shows the one that matches the provider level and setting used across states, without add-ons.
- Unit. Of the 50 states, 2 publish 20680 per unit and 1 per base unit, and 47 schedules print no unit at all (a flat amount per service).
- Per hour. 20680 is not billed in time units in these states, so no hourly figure is shown.
- Managed-care plans. The rule the state sets for its plans on this rate. What each rule means is explained below.
- % of Medicare. Medicare amounts exist for 20680, but no state's Medicaid unit matches Medicare's billing unit closely enough to compute a percentage.
- Source and date. Each Source link opens the state's own document; “since” is the date the rate took effect.
Why 20680 rates differ between states
Published rates for 20680 run from $9.30 in New Jersey to $1,029.44 in Alaska. The two publish it in different units (no unit printed versus base unit), so part of that gap is the unit rather than the price. Half the states pay more than the median of $404.31 and half pay less. The usual reasons for a spread like this in physician & professional rates:
- Some states pay physician services as a percentage of the Medicare fee schedule; others keep a schedule of their own that may not have been rebased for years.
- Many schedules pay differently by place of service (office versus facility) and by practitioner, and nurse practitioners and physician assistants are often paid a percentage of the physician amount.
- Primary-care and pediatric add-ons, enhanced rates for certain specialties and targeted increases for access problems change individual codes without moving the rest of the schedule.
Timing matters too. 30 states set the current rate for 20680 in 2026 or later, while 9 states still pay a rate that took effect in 2022 or earlier. A state that has not updated its rate in years will drift down the ranking as others raise theirs.
What managed-care plans pay for 20680
No managed-care plan publishes what it pays for 20680. What is public is the rule each state's plan contracts set, and that rule decides how much the published rate matters when you contract with a plan.
In 11 states, the published rate binds plans: a floor, a pass-through or a state-set rate. In 24 states, plans negotiate and the published rate is a benchmark or out-of-network default. In 1 state, the service is paid outside the plans or through a state-directed payment. The rule for the remaining 14 states is not classified yet.
- Plans negotiate; the published rate applies out of network (24 states). In-network rates can be above or below the published rate. The published rate is the benchmark both sides know, and the fallback if no contract is signed.
- Plans must pay at least the published rate (11 states). The published rate is your floor. Negotiate up from it, and if a plan pays less, the contract provision is the basis for a payment dispute.
- Paid by the state, outside the plans (1 state). Bill the state's Medicaid program, not the plan, at the published rate. There is no plan contract to negotiate for this service.
Plan-negotiated rates are never estimated here. To see the rule and its citation for a particular state, open that state's managed-care page, for example Alaska managed care.
Units and billing for 20680
20680 is a CPT surgery code in the physician & professional line, billed mostly by physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other licensed practitioners. Surgical codes are paid once per procedure. The fee can include a global period of related care before and after the procedure, and modifiers for multiple, bilateral or assistant procedures raise or reduce what is actually paid.
Where a state publishes separate facility and non-facility amounts, the non-facility (office) amount is usually higher because the practice carries the overhead. Practitioners who are not physicians are often paid a reduced percentage of the published amount, so check the schedule for the reduction that applies to your provider type.
Medicare's 2026 physician fee schedule pays $558.02–$814.76 for 20680 (non-facility), depending on the Medicare locality. That is a useful reference point, but Medicare and Medicaid can define the unit differently, so compare only where the units match.
Before billing, confirm the rate, unit and any modifier with the state's current schedule or the plan: the amounts here are as published, not a guarantee of payment.
Frequently asked questions
What does Medicaid pay for 20680?
It depends on the state. Of the 50 states with a published fee-for-service rate, the median is $404.31. Alaska pays the most ($1,029.44) and New Jersey the least ($9.30 per base unit).
Which state pays the highest Medicaid rate for 20680?
Alaska, at $1,029.44, effective 2026-07-01.
Which state pays the lowest Medicaid rate for 20680?
New Jersey, at $9.30 per base unit, effective 2014-07-01. It publishes the code in a different unit from Alaska, so compare per unit with care.
What unit is 20680 billed in?
Of the 50 states, 2 publish 20680 per unit and 1 per base unit, and 47 schedules print no unit at all (a flat amount per service).
Do managed-care plans pay the same rate for 20680?
Not necessarily. In 11 states, the published rate binds plans: a floor, a pass-through or a state-set rate. In 24 states, plans negotiate and the published rate is a benchmark or out-of-network default. In 1 state, the service is paid outside the plans or through a state-directed payment. The rule for the remaining 14 states is not classified yet. Each rule is cited to the plan contract, statute or notice in the workspace.