CPT code 21603: Chest wall tumor excision, with lymphadenectomy2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in Virginia

In Virginia, Medicare pays $1,600.38 for 21603 in a facility. There’s no office rate.

Check a contract rate as a % of Medicare · 21603 nationwide

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

What 21603 covers

A thoracic surgeon removes a chest wall tumor and performs lymphadenectomy during the same operation. This is a major surgical service generally performed in a hospital operating room. The operative report should establish the chest wall tumor being excised and describe the lymph node dissection performed as part of the procedure; a tumor excision alone or node sampling alone does not establish this combined service.

Select this code when the documented operation includes both components, distinguishing it from the related chest wall tumor excision code without lymphadenectomy. The 90-day global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care. When multiple procedures are performed in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures are subject to the standard 50% multiple-procedure reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate. Assistant-at-surgery payment may be available; co-surgeons require supporting documentation, and team surgery is not permitted.

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.

How Virginia compares for 21603

Across 109 of 109 payment localities, the facility rate for 21603 runs from $1,480.85 in Arkansas to $2,031.18 in Alaska. Virginia pays $1,600.38. The RVUs are the same everywhere; the geographic indexes change the dollars.

Every other payment area

21603 rates by state

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

See 21603 in every payment locality

How the 21603 rate is calculated

Each of 21603’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.

Payment rules and modifiers for 21603

21603 has a 90-day global period: related visits in that window are included in the surgery payment.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 51

Codes related to 21603

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

How 21603 has changed in Virginia

Price 21603 for an earlier date of service

Where the Virginia rate applies

Virginia is a Medicare payment area, not a city. Our Census mapping connects it to 628 cities and communities in Virginia. Some span more than one payment area; confirm with the service ZIP.

• Abbs Valley
• Abingdon
• Accomac
• Adwolf
• Afton
• Alberta
• Aldie
• Allison Gap

Browse all communities in Virginia

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