CPT code 61615: Skull lesion surgery, extradural, with craniectomy2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in Washington, DC area

In Washington, DC area, Medicare pays $3,143.57 for 61615 in a facility. There’s no office rate.

Check a contract rate as a % of Medicare · 61615 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 61615 covers

A neurosurgeon removes a neoplastic, vascular, or infectious lesion involving the skull from outside the dura, including the craniectomy needed to reach and excise it. A typical setting is facility-based surgery for a calvarial lesion requiring operative removal. The operative report should establish the lesion’s location and nature, the extradural operative plane, and the skull removal and excision performed.

Choose this code for an extradural skull lesion, not for an intradural lesion or a lesion at a separately defined cranial site. The day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care are included in the major-surgery global period. When multiple procedures are performed in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and the others at 50%. Modifier 50 is inappropriate for this code. Assistant-at-surgery payment may be available; co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation, and team surgery is 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 Washington, DC area compares for 61615

Across 109 of 109 payment localities, the facility rate for 61615 runs from $2,415.89 in Arkansas to $3,618.74 in Miami, FL. Washington, DC area pays $3,143.57. The RVUs are the same everywhere; the geographic indexes change the dollars.

Every other payment area

61615 rates by state

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

See 61615 in every payment locality

How the 61615 rate is calculated

Each of 61615’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 61615

61615 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 61615

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

How 61615 has changed in Washington, DC area

Price 61615 for an earlier date of service

Where the Washington, DC area rate applies

Washington, DC area is a Medicare payment area, not a city. Our Census mapping connects it to 1 cities and communities in District of Columbia. Some span more than one payment area; confirm with the service ZIP.

• Washington

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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