Billing code 63702: Spinal repairMedicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $1,434.90 for 63702 nationally in a facility.

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

What 63702 covers

A spinal meningocele is a sac of meninges and cerebrospinal fluid that protrudes through a spinal defect. A neurosurgeon, often a pediatric neurosurgeon, operates to address the sac and close the defect while protecting the spinal cord and nerve roots. This code is for repair in a patient who is not a newborn; the newborn repair is a separate code in the family. These procedures are generally performed in a hospital operating room for congenital spinal lesions.

Select the code based on the lesion being repaired and the patient’s newborn status, not simply the spinal level or size of the defect. The operative report should identify the meningocele, describe the repair and document the patient’s status relevant to code selection. Medicare assigns a 90-day global period, including the day before surgery and 90 days of related postoperative care. When multiple procedures are performed in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures are subject to the standard 50% reduction. Modifier 50 is not appropriate for this midline repair. An assistant at surgery may be paid; co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation, and team surgery is 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 63702 pays more and less

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

109 of 109 payment localities

63702 rates by state

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

How the 63702 rate is calculated

Each of 63702’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 63702

63702 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

63702 compared with similar codes

How to choose

63700Meningocele repair

Both describe spinal meningocele repair; 63700 is for a newborn, while 63702 is for a patient who is not a newborn.

63704Spinal defect repair

This code is for newborn myelomeningocele repair. Use 63702 for a nonnewborn patient when the lesion is a meningocele, not a myelomeningocele.

63706Spinal defect repair

This code is for nonnewborn myelomeningocele repair. The lesion type, rather than age alone, separates it from 63702.

63707Spinal leak repair

63707 addresses repair of a spinal cerebrospinal fluid leak. It is not the code for repairing a spinal meningocele.

Codes related to 63702

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