CPT code 32997: Lung lavage, whole-lung lavage2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in South Carolina

In South Carolina, Medicare pays $294.09 for 32997 in a facility. There’s no office rate.

Check a contract rate as a % of Medicare · 32997 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 32997 covers

Total lung lavage washes an entire lung to remove accumulated material from the air spaces, most commonly in a patient with pulmonary alveolar proteinosis. In a controlled operating-room setting, the lung being treated is isolated while the other lung is ventilated; warmed saline is introduced and drained in repeated cycles. A thoracic surgeon or pulmonologist typically performs the lavage with anesthesia support. The procedure treats a whole lung rather than a focal lesion or an individual airway.

Report the service when the operative record supports therapeutic lavage of the entire lung, including the indication, side treated, lung-isolation approach, and lavage performed. For bilateral treatment, CMS recognizes modifier 50 and pays the bilateral procedure at 150%. When multiple procedures are performed in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and the others at 50%. The 0-day global period includes same-day preoperative and postoperative care. Medicare does not pay an assistant at surgery for this code; co-surgeons and team surgery 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 South Carolina compares for 32997

Across 109 of 109 payment localities, the facility rate for 32997 runs from $284.74 in Arkansas to $413.26 in Alaska. South Carolina pays $294.09. The RVUs are the same everywhere; the geographic indexes change the dollars.

Every other payment area

32997 rates by state

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

See 32997 in every payment locality

How the 32997 rate is calculated

Each of 32997’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 32997

The CMS indicators that decide how 32997 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 50

Codes related to 32997

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

How 32997 has changed in South Carolina

Price 32997 for an earlier date of service

Where the South Carolina rate applies

South Carolina is a Medicare payment area, not a city. Our Census mapping connects it to 475 cities and communities in South Carolina. Some span more than one payment area; confirm with the service ZIP.

• Abbeville
• Abney Crossroads
• Adams Run
• Aiken
• Alcolu
• Allendale
• Anderson
• Andrews

Browse all communities in South Carolina

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