No office rate
Use for frontal sinus exploration when the operative service is exploration rather than obliteration of the sinus cavity.
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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
31080 Frontal sinus surgery Medicare reimbursement rates in Alaska
Reports surgery that removes or disables the frontal sinus cavity, typically to manage difficult frontal sinus disease or prevent recurrent problems. Compare 31080 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Alaska.
Amounts below use the non-QP conversion factor for participating physicians. These are base physician payments before claim-level adjustments, not patient costs or total hospital charges.
What does Medicare pay for 31080 in Alaska?
Alaska has 1 payment locality in this comparison. Use the service location to choose the applicable amount. These are the supported base rates for the payment area shown below, using the same CMS release.
Office / nonfacility
No supported rate
Facility setting
$1196.08
1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.
Payment area: Alaska*
One mapped payment locality.
These are locality ranges, not averages or address-specific quotes. A facility-setting amount covers the physician service; it does not include a hospital’s separate bill. Choose a locality below to inspect its calculation, compare other payment areas, or price a percentage of Medicare.
Otolaryngology surgery
About 31080: Frontal sinus obliteration surgery
Reports surgery that removes or disables the frontal sinus cavity, typically to manage difficult frontal sinus disease or prevent recurrent problems.
This operation addresses the frontal sinus by surgically exposing the cavity and obliterating it, with or without an osteoplastic flap. Otolaryngologists and surgeons working with the frontal sinus may perform it in an operating room, often for persistent or complex disease when maintaining an open sinus pathway is not the chosen treatment. The operative report should establish that the work was an obliterative frontal sinus procedure, rather than exploration alone or a procedure on another sinus.
Report the code when the documented operative work matches this frontal sinus obliteration service; support selection with the approach, structures treated, and extent of the procedure. CMS assigns a 90-day global period, including the day-before preoperative visit 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% multiple-procedure reduction. For bilateral reporting with modifier 50, CMS pays at 150%. An assistant at surgery may be paid; co-surgeon and team-surgery payment are not permitted.
CMS billing rules for 31080
- Global period
- Major surgery with a 90-day global period: the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care are included.
- Multiple procedures
- Standard multiple procedure reduction: the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and others at 50% when performed in the same session.
- Bilateral procedures
- Bilateral procedure with modifier 50 is paid at 150%.
- Assistant at surgery
- Assistant at surgery may be paid.
- Co-surgeons
- Co-surgeons not permitted.
- Team surgery
- Team surgery not permitted.
Where the value comes from
- Work RVU12.42 · 42%
- Practice expense (office) RVU15.20 · 52%
- Malpractice RVU1.80 · 6%
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.
31080 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Alaska, from the same CMS release.
31075
No office rateFrontal sinus exploration
This is also a frontal sinus exploration code. Choose the obliteration code only when the documented work is the frontal sinus obliterative procedure.
No office rate
This is a related frontal sinus removal code. Compare its full code descriptor with the specific operative technique and extent documented before selecting between the codes.
Compare 31080 by payment locality
Find the payment area for your service address, then open its rate page for calculation inputs, release history and the percentage-of-Medicare tool. A city may cross payment-area boundaries; the ZIP lookup above helps resolve the location.
1 of 1 payment localities
Alaska* →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$1196.08
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How this local rate is calculated
Each RVU component is multiplied by its own geographic practice cost index (GPCI). The three adjusted components are added, then multiplied by the conversion factor. These are the inputs used for 31080 in Alaska*.
PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv
3,504
- Code
- 31080
- Physician work
- 12.42
- Practice expense
- 15.20
- Malpractice
- 1.80
GPCI2026.csv
5
- Locality
- Alaska*
- Physician work
- 1.500
- Practice expense
- 1.065
- Malpractice
- 0.551
| Component | RVU | Locality factor | Adjusted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physician work | 12.42 | × 1.500 | 18.6300 |
| Practice expense | 15.20 | × 1.065 | 16.1880 |
| Malpractice | 1.80 | × 0.551 | 0.9918 |
| Total RVUs | 35.8098 | ||
| Conversion factor | × 33.4009 | ||
Facility rate, Alaska*$1196.08
Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula
Facility
| Component | RVU | Local GPCI |
|---|---|---|
| Work | 12.42 | 1.5 |
| Practice expense | 15.2 | 1.065 |
| Malpractice | 1.8 | 0.551 |
(12.42 × 1.5 + 15.2 × 1.065 + 1.8 × 0.551) × $33.4009 = $1196.08
The office and facility calculations use their respective practice-expense RVUs. The facility amount here is the physician fee, not a separate hospital or facility bill.
31080 billing questions
How is this different from frontal sinus exploration?
This code is for obliterative surgery on the frontal sinus cavity. Codes 31070 and 31075 describe frontal sinus exploration, not the same obliterative service.
Does this code include related postoperative care?
Yes. CMS assigns a 90-day global period that includes the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care.
Can an assistant surgeon be reported?
CMS allows payment for an assistant at surgery. Co-surgeon and team-surgery payment are not permitted for this code.
How is bilateral surgery paid?
When the service is bilateral and reported with modifier 50, CMS pays at 150%.
What happens when another procedure is performed in the same session?
CMS pays the highest-valued procedure in full and applies the standard multiple-procedure reduction to the other procedures.
Where these rates come from
FeeBase calculates base physician payments from CMS work, practice-expense, and malpractice RVUs, adjusted by each locality’s geographic indices and the applicable conversion factor. Unavailable or separately priced services are labeled rather than assigned a made-up amount.
Source: RVU26D. Effective 2026-10-01 through the day before 2027-01-01.
3,50131051,,Sphenoid sinus surgery,A,,7.07,10.90,NA,10.90,,1.05,19.02,19.02,0,090,0.10,0.76,0.14,2,1,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,50231070,,Exploration of frontal sinus,A,,4.29,8.35,NA,8.35,,0.62,13.26,13.26,0,090,0.10,0.76,0.14,2,1,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,50331075,,Exploration of frontal sinus,A,,9.27,11.83,NA,11.83,,1.34,22.44,22.44,0,090,0.10,0.76,0.14,2,1,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,50431080,,Removal of frontal sinus,A,,12.42,15.20,NA,15.20,,1.80,29.42,29.42,0,090,0.10,0.76,0.14,2,1,2,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,50531081,,Removal of frontal sinus,A,,13.84,15.54,NA,15.54,,2.02,31.40,31.40,0,090,0.10,0.76,0.14,2,1,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,50631084,,Removal of frontal sinus,A,,14.58,15.72,NA,15.72,,2.13,32.43,32.43,0,090,0.10,0.76,0.14,2,1,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,50731085,,Removal of frontal sinus,A,,15.25,15.89,NA,15.89,,2.21,33.35,33.35,0,090,0.10,0.76,0.14,2,1,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
2,,,,,,
3Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC),State,Locality Number,Locality Name,2026 PW GPCI (with 1.0 Floor)***,2026 PE GPCI,2026 MP GPCI
410112,AL,00,ALABAMA,1.000,0.875,0.566
502102,AK,01,ALASKA*,1.500,1.065,0.551
603102,AZ,00,ARIZONA,1.000,0.969,0.856
707102,AR,13,ARKANSAS,1.000,0.859,0.515
801112,CA,54,BAKERSFIELD,1.019,1.096,0.609