Billing code 31515: Airway aspirationMedicare rate & RVUs
Direct laryngoscopy, with or without tracheoscopy, to aspirate material from the upper airway when suctioning requires direct visualization.
Medicare pays $229.46 for 31515 nationally in the office and $101.54 in a hospital or facility. Local office rates run $202.41–$303.50.
Medicare rate · 31515
Airway aspiration
Swap in your local Medicare rate.
- Work RVUs
- 1.76
- Total RVUs
- 6.87
- Global days
- 000
National rate · 2026
$229.46
Office setting, before claim adjustments.
See every locality for 31515 → · Billed by an NP, PA or therapist? →
Medicare allowed amount for participating (non-QP) physicians, before deductible, coinsurance and claim adjustments. Not a patient’s bill or a hospital charge.
On this page 10 sections
What 31515 covers
An otolaryngologist or other physician with airway expertise uses a laryngoscope to view the larynx and, when needed, the trachea while aspirating material from the airway. The service is appropriate when suctioning under direct visualization is the purpose of the procedure, rather than a diagnostic examination alone or extraction of a foreign body. It may be performed in an operating room or another setting equipped for airway procedures.
Report the service when the record supports direct visualization and aspiration, including the airway examined and the material or clinical reason for suctioning. The code has a 0-day global period, so same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included. When multiple procedures are performed in the same session, Medicare pays the highest-valued procedure in full and reduces the others to 50%. Modifier 50 is inappropriate. Medicare does not pay an assistant at surgery for this service; 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.
Where 31515 pays more and less
The same RVUs, adjusted for each area’s costs. Open a locality for its calculation, history and nearby areas.
109 payment localities
$202.41 to $303.50
109 of 109 payment localities
31515 rates by state
Office rate range in each state. Select a state to see its payment localities.
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Local rates. Clear comparisons.
Hover or focus a tile to see its rate range. Select it to open the state’s fee schedule.
$202.41
$272.75
Color shows the midpoint of each state’s locality range.
View every state and territory as a table
| State / territory | Office rate range | Localities |
|---|---|---|
| AK | $265.49 | 1 |
| AL | $205.45 | 1 |
| AR | $202.41 | 1 |
| AZ | $223.19 | 1 |
| CA | $241.99–$303.50 | 29 |
| CO | $238.64 | 1 |
| CT | $244.94 | 1 |
| DC | $262.45 | 1 |
| DE | $226.94 | 1 |
| FL | $226.70–$249.38 | 3 |
| GA | $213.64–$233.98 | 2 |
| GU | $248.00 | 1 |
| HI | $248.00 | 1 |
| IA | $210.46 | 1 |
| ID | $211.93 | 1 |
| IL | $220.26–$241.93 | 4 |
| IN | $213.17 | 1 |
| KS | $209.61 | 1 |
| KY | $210.74 | 1 |
| LA | $210.47–$221.09 | 2 |
| MA | $237.23–$262.35 | 2 |
| MD | $231.28–$262.45 | 3 |
| ME | $213.22–$224.80 | 2 |
| MI | $216.49–$229.75 | 2 |
| MN | $228.05 | 1 |
| MO | $206.88–$221.71 | 3 |
| MS | $204.68 | 1 |
| MT | $229.45 | 1 |
| NC | $215.48 | 1 |
| ND | $224.31 | 1 |
| NE | $211.59 | 1 |
| NH | $235.02 | 1 |
| NJ | $247.56–$259.68 | 2 |
| NM | $217.76 | 1 |
| NV | $228.18 | 1 |
| NY | $218.79–$271.29 | 5 |
| OH | $215.44 | 1 |
| OK | $210.19 | 1 |
| OR | $226.24–$246.16 | 2 |
| PA | $215.70–$238.84 | 2 |
| PR | $231.12 | 1 |
| RI | $234.99 | 1 |
| SC | $215.85 | 1 |
| SD | $223.70 | 1 |
| TN | $210.70 | 1 |
| TX | $214.27–$237.99 | 8 |
| UT | $218.86 | 1 |
| VA | $224.16–$262.45 | 2 |
| VI | $231.12 | 1 |
| VT | $223.55 | 1 |
| WA | $236.74–$267.59 | 2 |
| WI | $216.65 | 1 |
| WV | $211.99 | 1 |
| WY | $227.21 | 1 |
How the 31515 rate is calculated
Each of 31515’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.
How the rate is built · 31515
RVUs × geographic indexes × conversion factor
Swap in your local Medicare rate.
Work 1.76Practice expense 4.85Malpractice 0.26
All indexes start at 1.000 (the national rate). Enter a ZIP or drag a slider.
Payment rules and modifiers for 31515
The CMS indicators that decide how 31515 is paid alongside other services.
CMS payment indicators · 31515
Airway aspiration
| Rule | CMS value | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Global period | 000 | Same-day global: pre- and post-op care on the day of the procedure is included. |
| Multiple procedures | 2 | Standard reduction: highest-valued procedure at 100%, others at 50%. |
| Bilateral (modifier 50) | 0 | The 150% bilateral adjustment doesn’t apply. |
| Assistant at surgery (80/81/82/AS) | 1 | Not paid (statutory restriction). |
| Co-surgeons (62) | 0 | Not permitted. |
| Team surgery (66) | 0 | Not permitted. |
| Professional/technical | 0 | Physician service: no professional/technical split. |
What modifiers do to the payment
Modifier 51 · payment effect
With and without the modifier
31515 without 51 · national office
$229.46
Airway aspiration
31515-51 · Second procedure: 50%
$114.73
When this isn’t the highest-valued procedure in the session, Medicare pays 50% of its fee schedule amount (the highest is paid at 100%).
31515 compared with similar codes
Compare codes
31515 vs 31525 vs 31520 vs 31530 vs 31505: national Medicare rates
Swap in your local Medicare rate.
How to choose
- 31525Laryngoscopy
- 31515 is for aspiration under direct visualization; 31525 is a direct diagnostic examination when aspiration is not the service.
- 31520Laryngoscopy
- 31520 is diagnostic direct laryngoscopy for a newborn. Select 31515 for the aspiration service, not solely because the patient is a newborn.
- 31530Laryngoscopy
- 31530 describes operative laryngoscopy for removal of a laryngeal foreign body. Use 31515 when the service is airway aspiration rather than foreign-body extraction.
- 31505Laryngoscopy
- 31505 is an indirect diagnostic laryngoscopy; 31515 involves direct visualization for aspiration.
31515 billing questions
How is this different from diagnostic laryngoscopy?
Choose 31515 when the laryngoscopy is performed to aspirate material under direct visualization. A diagnostic laryngoscopy is selected when examination, rather than airway aspiration, is the service.
Does the code include the laryngoscopic visualization?
Yes. The direct visualization is part of the aspiration service; document the airway examined and the aspiration performed.
Can modifier 50 be reported?
No. CMS identifies bilateral adjustment as inappropriate for this code.
What happens when another procedure is performed in the same session?
Under the standard multiple-procedure reduction, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and the other procedure or procedures are paid at 50%.
Can an assistant or co-surgeon be billed?
Medicare does not pay an assistant at surgery for this service. Co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.
What global-period services are included?
The 0-day global period includes same-day preoperative and postoperative care.
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
Show the CMS file lines behind this rate
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