CPT code 63044: Lumbar re-exploration, each additional interspace2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in California

CMS doesn’t publish an office rate for 63044 in California.

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

What 63044 covers

A spine surgeon reports this add-on for nerve-root decompression at an additional lumbar interspace during a re-exploration laminotomy. The work may include partial facet removal, opening the neural foramen, or removing herniated disc material to relieve compression. Re-exploration involves returning to a previously operated lumbar interspace; this code distinguishes an additional interspace from the primary one. These procedures are typically performed in an operating room, often in a hospital setting.

Medicare assigns status C: there is no national physician fee schedule payment, and the Medicare Administrative Contractor sets payment for each claim. This is an add-on code and must be reported with a primary procedure; Medicare treats it within that procedure’s global period. Report each additional lumbar interspace as a unit. For a bilateral procedure, modifier 50 is paid at 150%.

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.

Where 63044 pays more and less in California

The same RVUs, adjusted for each area’s costs. Open a locality for its calculation, history and nearby areas.

29 of 29 payment localities

How the 63044 rate is calculated

Each of 63044’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 63044

The CMS indicators that decide how 63044 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 50

63044 compared with similar codes

How to choose

63042Lumbar decompressionSingle-level re-exploration

63042 reports the primary lumbar interspace during re-exploration; 63044 reports each additional lumbar interspace and must accompany a primary procedure.

63035Nerve-root decompressionEach additional interspace

Both concern an additional lumbar interspace, but 63035 is for a laminotomy without re-exploration; 63044 is for re-exploration.

63047Lumbar decompressionSingle lumbar segment

63047 describes lumbar decompression with laminectomy, facetectomy, and foraminotomy. 63044 is limited to an additional interspace in a lumbar re-exploration laminotomy.

Codes related to 63044

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

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