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CPT code 00144: Corneal transplant anesthesia, corneal graft surgery2026 Medicare rate & RVUs

Anesthesia for corneal transplantation, including surgery that replaces diseased or damaged corneal tissue with donor tissue.

CMS RVU26DEffective Oct 1, 2026109 payment localities20.3K Medicare services in 2024

Medicare rate · 00144

Corneal transplant anesthesia, corneal graft surgery

Office or facility?

Work RVUs
0
Total RVUs
0.00
Global days
XXX

National rate · 2026

—

Not priced in the facility setting.

See every locality for 00144 →Billed by an NP, PA or therapist? →

Medicare allowed amount for participating (non-QP) physicians, before deductible, coinsurance and claim adjustments. Not a patient’s bill or a hospital charge.

Your location

Medicare pays by the payment locality where the service is performed.

On this page 10 sections
  1. Medicare rate
  2. What 00144 covers
  3. By payment locality
  4. Rate map
  5. How it’s calculated
  6. Payment rules
  7. Similar codes
  8. Related codes
  9. Billing questions
  10. Sources

What 00144 covers

Corneal transplantation treats a damaged or diseased cornea by replacing all or part of the affected tissue with a donor graft. Anesthesia is typically provided by an anesthesiologist or CRNA in a hospital operating room or ambulatory surgery center while an ophthalmologist performs the eye surgery.

Report 00144 when the operation is a corneal transplant, rather than another eye procedure, lens surgery, or vitreoretinal surgery. The operative record should identify the corneal graft procedure; the anesthesia record should support the anesthetic service and its start and stop times. Medicare payment is (6 base units + time units) multiplied by the anesthesia conversion factor, which varies by locality. Time is reported in minutes and converted to 15-minute units to one decimal place, starting when the practitioner begins preparing the patient for anesthesia and ending when the practitioner is no longer in personal attendance and the patient can safely be placed under postoperative care.

This summary was written with AI assistance from CMS physician fee schedule data and checked against the CMS billing rules shown here. Rates on this page come directly from CMS files.

Where 00144 pays more and less

The same RVUs, adjusted for each area’s costs. Open a locality for its calculation, history and nearby areas.

109 of 109 payment localities

00144 office and facility rates by payment locality
Payment localityOfficeFacility
AlabamaUnavailableUnavailable
AlaskaUnavailableUnavailable
ArizonaUnavailableUnavailable
ArkansasUnavailableUnavailable
Atlanta, GAUnavailableUnavailable
Austin, TXUnavailableUnavailable
Bakersfield, CAUnavailableUnavailable
Baltimore area, MDUnavailableUnavailable
Beaumont, TXUnavailableUnavailable
Brazoria, TXUnavailableUnavailable

00144 rates by state

Office rate range in each state. Select a state to see its payment localities.

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Explore a state

Local rates. Clear comparisons.

Hover or focus a tile to see its rate range. Select it to open the state’s fee schedule.

View every state and territory as a table
00144 office rate range by state
State / territoryOffice rate rangeLocalities
AKNo published base rate1
ALNo published base rate1
ARNo published base rate1
AZNo published base rate1
CANo published base rate29
CONo published base rate1
CTNo published base rate1
DCNo published base rate1
DENo published base rate1
FLNo published base rate3
GANo published base rate2
GUNo published base rate1
HINo published base rate1
IANo published base rate1
IDNo published base rate1
ILNo published base rate4
INNo published base rate1
KSNo published base rate1
KYNo published base rate1
LANo published base rate2
MANo published base rate2
MDNo published base rate3
MENo published base rate2
MINo published base rate2
MNNo published base rate1
MONo published base rate3
MSNo published base rate1
MTNo published base rate1
NCNo published base rate1
NDNo published base rate1
NENo published base rate1
NHNo published base rate1
NJNo published base rate2
NMNo published base rate1
NVNo published base rate1
NYNo published base rate5
OHNo published base rate1
OKNo published base rate1
ORNo published base rate2
PANo published base rate2
PRNo published base rate1
RINo published base rate1
SCNo published base rate1
SDNo published base rate1
TNNo published base rate1
TXNo published base rate8
UTNo published base rate1
VANo published base rate2
VINo published base rate1
VTNo published base rate1
WANo published base rate2
WINo published base rate1
WVNo published base rate1
WYNo published base rate1

How the 00144 rate is calculated

Each of 00144’s three RVUs is multiplied by a geographic index (GPCI) for the payment locality, added up, and multiplied by the conversion factor. Drag the indexes or enter a ZIP to see what moves the rate.

How the rate is built · 00144

RVUs × geographic indexes × conversion factor

Office or facility?

Work0.00

0.00 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI

Practice expense0.00

0.00 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI

Malpractice0.00

0.00 RVUs× 1.000 GPCI

Adjusted RVUs

0.0000

Conversion factor

$33.4009

Medicare rate

$0.00

Every GPCI starts at 1.000, the national rate. Enter a ZIP or drag a slider.

Payment rules and modifiers for 00144

00144 has no global surgery period, no multiple-procedure, bilateral or assistant-at-surgery adjustment, and no professional/technical split. What changes the payment is where the service happens: the place of service on the claim decides whether Medicare pays the office or the facility rate.

Place of service · 00144

Which rate does Medicare pay?

The POS code on the claim line (CMS-1500 box 24B).

POS 11 · non-facility rate · national

—

00144 isn’t priced in this setting.

00144 compared with similar codes

Compare codes · National

5 codes, side by side

Office or facility?

  • 00144

    Corneal transplant anesthesia, corneal graft surgery0 wRVU

    Not priced

  • 00140

    Eye procedure anesthesia, eye procedures not otherwise specified0 wRVU

    Not priced

  • 00142

    Lens surgery anesthesia, lens procedures0 wRVU

    Not priced

  • 00145

    Retinal surgery anesthesia, vitreous and retina0 wRVU

    Not priced

  • 00147

    Iridectomy anesthesia, iris surgery0 wRVU

    Not priced

How to choose

00140Eye procedure anesthesiaEye procedures not otherwise specified
Choose 00144 for corneal transplantation. Code 00140 covers other eye procedures that lack a more specific anesthesia category.
00142Lens surgery anesthesiaLens procedures
Code 00142 is for anesthesia during eye lens surgery; 00144 is for corneal transplantation.
00145Retinal surgery anesthesiaVitreous and retina
Code 00145 applies to vitreoretinal surgery. Use 00144 when the operation is corneal transplantation.
00147Iridectomy anesthesiaIris surgery
Code 00147 is for anesthesia during iridectomy, not corneal graft surgery.

Codes related to 00144

Related codes aren’t interchangeable: bill the code that matches the service performed.

Codes related to 00144
CodeHow it relatesNational office range
Same family
00140Eye procedure anesthesia, eye procedures not otherwise specifiedAnesthesia for other eye procedures when a more specific ophthalmic anesthesia category does not apply.No office rate
00142Lens surgery anesthesia, lens proceduresAnesthesia for eye lens surgery, distinct from corneal graft surgery.No office rate
00145Retinal surgery anesthesia, vitreous and retinaAnesthesia for vitreoretinal surgery rather than corneal transplantation.No office rate
00147Iridectomy anesthesia, iris surgeryAnesthesia for iridectomy, a different ophthalmic procedure.No office rate
00148Ophthalmoscopy anesthesia, diagnostic eye examinationAnesthesia for ophthalmoscopy, not corneal graft surgery.No office rate

00144 billing questions

When should 00144 be chosen instead of 00140?

Use 00144 when the operation is corneal transplantation. Code 00140 is for other eye procedures that do not fall under a more specific anesthesia category.

How are anesthesia time units calculated?

Report anesthesia time in minutes; Medicare converts the minutes to 15-minute units, calculated to one decimal place. The interval starts when the practitioner begins preparing the patient for anesthesia and ends when the practitioner is no longer in personal attendance and the patient can safely be placed under postoperative care.

What are the Medicare base units and payment calculation?

Code 00144 has 6 base units. Medicare calculates payment as base units plus time units, multiplied by the anesthesia conversion factor for the payment locality.

What should the records show to support 00144?

The operative report should establish that corneal transplantation was performed. The anesthesia record should support the anesthesia service and document its start and stop times.

Is 00144 also used for lens or retinal surgery?

No. Lens surgery is represented by 00142, and vitreoretinal surgery by 00145; 00144 is for anesthesia for corneal transplantation.

Where these rates come from

FeeBase calculates base physician payments from CMS work, practice-expense and malpractice RVUs, adjusted by each locality’s geographic indexes and the conversion factor. Services without a published rate are labeled, never given a made-up amount. Amounts are Medicare allowed amounts before claim adjustments: not a patient’s bill or a commercial rate.

CMS RVU26D · effective Oct 1, 2026 through the day before Jan 1, 2027

Open CMS sourceHow we calculate rates

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