CPT code 31603: Emergency tracheostomy, open tracheal airway2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in New Mexico

In New Mexico, Medicare pays $281.91 for 31603 in a facility. There’s no office rate.

Check a contract rate as a % of Medicare · 31603 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 31603 covers

This service establishes an airway through a surgical opening in the trachea during an emergency. It is distinct from an emergency opening through the cricothyroid membrane. An ENT, trauma, or other qualified surgeon may perform it in a hospital emergency department or operating room when the patient needs an urgent surgical airway, such as when an airway cannot be secured by other means.

Report 31603 for the emergency tracheostomy performed, not for a planned tracheostomy or an emergency cricothyroidotomy. The operative record should support the emergency circumstances and identify the procedure performed and the airway site. CMS assigns a 0-day global period, so same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included. When multiple procedures occur in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures are subject to the standard 50% reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate. Assistant-at-surgery payment is restricted, and co-surgeon and team-surgery billing are 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 New Mexico compares for 31603

Across 109 of 109 payment localities, the facility rate for 31603 runs from $251.62 in Wisconsin to $363.13 in Alaska. New Mexico pays $281.91. The RVUs are the same everywhere; the geographic indexes change the dollars.

Every other payment area

31603 rates by state

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

See 31603 in every payment locality

How the 31603 rate is calculated

Each of 31603’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 31603

The CMS indicators that decide how 31603 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 51

Codes related to 31603

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

How 31603 has changed in New Mexico

Price 31603 for an earlier date of service

Where the New Mexico rate applies

New Mexico is a Medicare payment area, not a city. Our Census mapping connects it to 528 cities and communities in New Mexico. Some span more than one payment area; confirm with the service ZIP.

• Abeytas
• Abiquiu
• Acomita Lake
• Adelino
• Agua Fria
• Alamillo
• Alamo
• Alamogordo

Browse all communities in New Mexico

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