Billing code 66740: Ciliary body ablationMedicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $443.56 for 66740 nationally in the office and $335.35 in a hospital or facility. Local office rates run $400.02–$571.96.

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

What 66740 covers

An ophthalmologist uses this procedure to ablate ciliary body tissue by a method not represented by the separately identified diathermy, transscleral laser, endoscopic laser, or cryotherapy options. Reducing aqueous humor production can lower intraocular pressure in glaucoma that remains difficult to control despite other treatment. It is generally performed as an operative eye procedure in a facility; CMS utilization shows facility services rather than office services for 2024.

Report the code when the operative documentation identifies the ciliary-body destruction method and supports that it is not one of the specifically coded techniques. Record the treated eye, indication, and operative details; laterality supports bilateral reporting. This major surgery code carries a 90-day global period, including the day before surgery and 90 days of related postoperative care. For bilateral procedures, modifier 50 is paid at 150%. In same-session multiple procedures, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and additional procedures at 50%. Medicare does not pay an assistant at surgery for this code; 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 66740 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

66740 rates by state

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

How the 66740 rate is calculated

Each of 66740’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 66740

66740 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 50

66740 compared with similar codes

How to choose

66710Ciliary body treatment

Use 66710 when the documented method is transscleral cyclophotocoagulation. This code is for another destruction method not represented by a specific technique code.

66711Endoscopic cyclophotocoagulation

Use 66711 for endoscopic cyclophotocoagulation of the ciliary body. Choose this code only when the documented method is a different, otherwise-unspecified destruction technique.

66720Ciliary body destruction

Use 66720 when ciliary-body destruction is performed with cryotherapy. This code describes a method outside that specifically identified technique.

Codes related to 66740

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