CPT code 61798: Cranial radiosurgery, complex lesion2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in Washington, DC area

In Washington, DC area, Medicare pays $1,479.18 for 61798 in a facility. There’s no office rate.

Check a contract rate as a % of Medicare · 61798 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 61798 covers

This code represents single-session stereotactic radiosurgery directed at a complex intracranial lesion. Neurosurgeons and radiation oncologists commonly participate in treating brain metastases, meningiomas, and vestibular schwannomas with focused radiation using stereotactic localization and treatment planning. The service is typically delivered in a hospital or radiation-treatment setting without open removal of the lesion.

Report 61798 for the first complex lesion in the session; report 61799 for each additional complex lesion. Choose the complex rather than simple sequence based on the documented lesion classification, not lesion count or laterality alone. Records should identify the treated target or targets, support their complex classification, and document stereotactic planning and treatment. CMS assigns a 90-day global period, including the day-before preoperative visit and related postoperative care for 90 days. Assistant-at-surgery payment may be made; co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted. Modifier 50 is inappropriate, including when targets are on both sides of the brain.

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 61798

Across 109 of 109 payment localities, the facility rate for 61798 runs from $1,136.49 in Wisconsin to $1,762.37 in Miami, FL. Washington, DC area pays $1,479.18. The RVUs are the same everywhere; the geographic indexes change the dollars.

Every other payment area

61798 rates by state

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

See 61798 in every payment locality

How the 61798 rate is calculated

Each of 61798’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 61798

61798 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 80

Codes related to 61798

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

How 61798 has changed in Washington, DC area

Price 61798 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

Browse all communities in District of Columbia

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