Radiesse, a calcium hydroxylapatite filler, is priced by clinics, and no national body has published an average fee for it since 2019. About 870 Americans a month search for its cost in one form or another (clickstream estimate, October 2026). This page sets out the last published national figures, why the survey behind them changed, how much product the FDA trials used per area, and what Medicare pays for, as of 20 October 2026. It is not a price list and makes no recommendation.
The published national fees, 2014–2019
The Aesthetic Society (formerly the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery) published an average physician fee per nonsurgical procedure each year until 2019. We read each year's report for the row labelled "Calcium Hydroxylapatite (Radiesse)".
| Year | Average physician fee | Procedures (as first reported) | Total physician fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | $634 | 133,059 | $84.4 million |
| 2015 | $651 | 153,444 | $99.9 million |
| 2016 | $698 | 149,307 | $104.2 million |
| 2017 | $697 | 42,143 | $29.4 million |
| 2018 | $727 | 31,821 | $23.1 million |
| 2019 | $705 | 34,776 | $24.5 million |
The report's own notes limit what the fee column means. The figures are physician fees only — they exclude the facility, anaesthesia, tests and "other miscellaneous costs" — and for procedures often done on more than one area in the same session they reflect "typical fees for one site". A jaw treated on both sides, or two hands, may be priced as more than one.
Our arithmetic, not a published figure: from 2014 to 2019 the fee rose 11% in nominal dollars, while the survey's count of procedures fell by almost three-quarters. Those two lines do not describe the same population, as the next section explains.
Why the counts fell by more than two-thirds in a year
The 2016 report says its figures were projected from a questionnaire mailed to 30,000 board-certified physicians, of whom 795 replied. The 2017 report surveyed 6,500 board-certified plastic surgeons, of whom 291 replied — a narrower group that excludes most dermatologists, who perform many filler treatments. The 2017 report also restated the previous year's Radiesse count as 57,288, against the 149,307 it had published a year earlier. So the fall from 2016 to 2017 is mostly a change in who was asked. The fee series, which averages what responding doctors charge, is less affected, but from 2017 it describes plastic surgeons' fees rather than physicians' in general.
The same year's table puts Radiesse between the two alternatives it is most often weighed against: in 2019 the average fee was $625 for a hyaluronic-acid filler and $850 for poly-L-lactic acid (Sculptra cost gives that series).
Why nothing has been published since
The Aesthetic Society's 2020–2023 reports carry no fee table for injectables, and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons' 2025 statistics report ranks minimally invasive procedures by volume without fees. A cost figure quoted as "national" in 2026 is therefore either the 2019 number, a clinic's own price, or an estimate whose basis should be asked for.
How much product each FDA trial used
Price follows volume. FDA's published summaries for the approval trials give how much was injected per area, which says more about likely cost than any average fee.
| Area | Volume in the approval trial | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Jawline (Radiesse (+)) | median 1.80 mL per side at the first session; touch-ups about 1.1–1.25 mL per side | P050052/S129 |
| Backs of both hands | mean 5.18 cc at the first session; retreatment mean 3.25 cc | P050052/S049 |
| Décolleté (diluted 1:2) | 1.5 mL Radiesse plus 3.0 mL saline per session, three sessions | P050052/S162 |
Radiesse (+) is supplied in 1.5 cc and 0.8 cc syringes. Our arithmetic from the trial figures: a first jaw session at the median used about 3.6 mL, more than two 1.5 cc syringes; a first hand session averaged more than three. These are trial averages under a protocol, not what any individual will need. The trials themselves are described on our pages on Radiesse for the jawline, neck and hands and hyperdilute Radiesse.
What Medicare and insurance cover
Radiesse has its own billing code, Q2026, "Injection, radiesse, 0.1 ml", effective 1 July 2010 (HCPCS descriptor). We searched CMS's October 2026 Medicare Part B payment-limit file and its "not payable" companion: Q2026 appears in neither, which means there is no national payment limit and any payment is set by the local Medicare contractor.
Coverage itself is narrow. Medicare's National Coverage Determination 250.5, effective 23 March 2010, covers dermal fillers only for facial fat loss caused by HIV treatment in people for whom it is a significant contributor to depression, and only with fillers approved for that use — which Radiesse has been since 22 December 2006 (PMA P050037). Every cosmetic use is outside it. Our Sculptra cost page sets out the coverage rule in more detail. Private insurers set their own policies.
What is and is not established
Established: the last published national average physician fee for one Radiesse procedure was $705 (2019), between hyaluronic-acid filler and Sculptra; the fee rose modestly from 2014; the sharp fall in counted procedures after 2016 coincides with a change in who was surveyed; the approval trials used more than two syringes per area at a first session on the jaw and hands; Medicare pays only for HIV-related facial fat loss, with no national payment limit for the code.
Not established: what Radiesse costs today in any city, since no national survey has published a fee since 2019; how many syringes an individual needs; and whether its duration makes it cheaper or dearer than alternatives over time. Prices, and the number of syringes they include, are worth asking for in writing before treatment. What Radiesse is and what it is approved for are on the Radiesse page.
Sources
- The Aesthetic Society. Aesthetic Plastic Surgery National Databank Statistics, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 (procedure counts, national average physician fees, nonsurgical tables; survey methodology pages for 2016 and 2017). cdn.theaestheticsociety.org/media/statistics/, read 2026-10-20.
- American Society of Plastic Surgeons. 2025 Plastic Surgery Statistics Report; and the Aesthetic Society's 2020–2023 reports, as checked for fee tables on 2026-10-11 (see our Sculptra cost page).
- US FDA. Summaries of Safety and Effectiveness Data, PMA P050052/S129, S049 and S162; Radiesse (+) instructions for use. accessdata.fda.gov, read 2026-10-20. Premarket approval database (openFDA), P050037, read 2026-10-20.
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. October 2026 Medicare Part B Payment Limit File and Drugs Not Payable Under Part B file (effective 2026-10-01), searched for Q2026 on 2026-10-20. HCPCS Q2026 descriptor and effective date via the NLM Clinical Tables HCPCS service, 2026-10-20. National Coverage Determination 250.5, as read 2026-10-11.