CPT code 63281: Spinal lesion surgery, thoracic intradural lesion2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in Montana

In Montana, Medicare pays $2,045.66 for 63281 in a facility. There’s no office rate.

Check a contract rate as a % of Medicare · 63281 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 63281 covers

A neurosurgeon uses a posterior approach, commonly with laminectomy or laminoplasty and opening of the dura, to obtain tissue from or remove a lesion within the thoracic spinal canal. Typical cases include an intradural extramedullary meningioma or schwannoma. The code identifies the thoracic location and intradural compartment; it is not the code for a lesion outside the dura or within the spinal cord substance. These procedures are generally performed in a hospital operating room.

Select the code when the operative report supports both the thoracic level and the lesion’s intradural location, and describes whether the surgeon biopsied or excised it. The service has a 90-day global period, including the day-before preoperative visit and related postoperative care during that period. 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. An assistant at surgery may be paid; co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation, and team surgery is not permitted. Modifier 50 is inappropriate for this anatomy.

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 Montana compares for 63281

Across 109 of 109 payment localities, the facility rate for 63281 runs from $1,736.67 in Wisconsin to $2,696.68 in Miami, FL. Montana pays $2,045.66. The RVUs are the same everywhere; the geographic indexes change the dollars.

Every other payment area

63281 rates by state

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

See 63281 in every payment locality

How the 63281 rate is calculated

Each of 63281’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 63281

63281 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 63281

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

How 63281 has changed in Montana

Price 63281 for an earlier date of service

Where the Montana rate applies

Montana is a Medicare payment area, not a city. Our Census mapping connects it to 497 cities and communities in Montana. Some span more than one payment area; confirm with the service ZIP.

• Absarokee
• Acton
• Alberton
• Alder
• Alzada
• Amsterdam
• Anaconda-Deer Lodge County
• Antelope

Browse all communities in Montana

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