No office rate
Choose 63085 when thoracic vertebral body resection is performed for neural decompression. Code 63064 describes a different thoracic decompression approach without this corpectomy service.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
63085 Thoracic corpectomy Medicare reimbursement rates in Colorado
Reports partial or complete removal of a thoracic vertebral body to decompress the spinal cord or nerve root at one segment. Compare 63085 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Colorado.
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 63085 in Colorado?
Colorado 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
$1795.57
1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.
Payment area: Colorado
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.
Spine surgery
About 63085: Thoracic vertebral body resection for decompression
Reports partial or complete removal of a thoracic vertebral body to decompress the spinal cord or nerve root at one segment.
A spine surgeon reports this service when part or all of a thoracic vertebral body is removed to relieve pressure on the spinal cord or a nerve root. The work includes partial or complete removal of the disc at that level. Clinical reasons can include a thoracic vertebral tumor, destructive fracture, or infection causing neural compression. These operations are generally performed in a hospital operating room.
Select this code for one thoracic vertebral segment; document the level, the vertebral body resection, and the neural decompression performed. Additional thoracic segments are reported with the applicable add-on code, not by extending the single-segment service. 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% reduction. CMS permits assistant-at-surgery, co-surgeon, and team-surgery payment for this service.
CMS billing rules for 63085
- 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 adjustment does not apply; the descriptor or anatomy makes modifier 50 inappropriate.
- Assistant at surgery
- Assistant at surgery may be paid.
- Co-surgeons
- Co-surgeons permitted.
- Team surgery
- Team surgery permitted.
Where the value comes from
- Work RVU28.73 · 53%
- Practice expense (office) RVU16.13 · 30%
- Malpractice RVU9.63 · 18%
242
Medicare services in 2024 · #4159 by national volume
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.
63085 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Colorado, from the same CMS release.
No office rate
63085 represents the first thoracic vertebral segment; 63086 is the add-on code for each additional thoracic segment.
No office rate
Both describe vertebral body resection for neural decompression, but 63087 is for the thoracolumbar region rather than a thoracic segment.
No office rate
Use 63090 for lumbar vertebral body resection for neural decompression; 63085 is the corresponding single-segment service for the thoracic region.
Compare 63085 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
Colorado →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$1795.57
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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 63085 in Colorado.
PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv
7,023
- Code
- 63085
- Physician work
- 28.73
- Practice expense
- 16.13
- Malpractice
- 9.63
GPCI2026.csv
37
- Locality
- Colorado
- Physician work
- 1.012
- Practice expense
- 1.064
- Malpractice
- 0.781
| Component | RVU | Locality factor | Adjusted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physician work | 28.73 | × 1.012 | 29.0748 |
| Practice expense | 16.13 | × 1.064 | 17.1623 |
| Malpractice | 9.63 | × 0.781 | 7.5210 |
| Total RVUs | 53.7581 | ||
| Conversion factor | × 33.4009 | ||
Facility rate, Colorado$1795.57
Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula
Facility
| Component | RVU | Local GPCI |
|---|---|---|
| Work | 28.73 | 1.012 |
| Practice expense | 16.13 | 1.064 |
| Malpractice | 9.63 | 0.781 |
(28.73 × 1.012 + 16.13 × 1.064 + 9.63 × 0.781) × $33.4009 = $1795.57
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.
63085 billing questions
When should this code be used instead of a thoracic decompression code?
Use it when the surgeon removes part or all of a thoracic vertebral body for spinal cord or nerve root decompression. A decompression performed without vertebral body resection is represented by a different code.
Does the service include disc removal at the treated level?
Yes. Partial or complete discectomy at the corpectomy level is included in the service.
How are additional thoracic segments reported?
Report the single-segment service for the first thoracic segment and use 63086 for each additional thoracic segment when the documented work meets that code’s requirements.
What documentation supports reporting this code?
The operative report should identify the thoracic level, describe partial or complete vertebral body removal, and explain the spinal cord or nerve root decompression performed.
Can an assistant or co-surgeon be reported?
CMS permits payment for an assistant at surgery, co-surgeons, and team surgery for this service.
How does the multiple-procedure rule affect same-session services?
When multiple procedures are performed in the same session, CMS pays the highest-valued procedure in full and applies the standard 50% reduction to the others.
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.
7,02063078,,Spine disk surgery thorax,A,,3.20,1.12,NA,1.12,,1.33,5.65,5.65,0,ZZZ,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,2,2,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
7,02163081,,Remove vert body dcmprn crvl,A,,25.45,15.61,NA,15.61,,8.64,49.70,49.70,0,090,0.11,0.76,0.13,2,0,2,1,2,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
7,02263082,,Remove vertebral body add-on,A,,4.25,1.43,NA,1.43,,1.43,7.11,7.11,0,ZZZ,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,2,1,2,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
7,02363085,,Remove vert body dcmprn thrc,A,,28.73,16.13,NA,16.13,,9.63,54.49,54.49,0,090,0.11,0.76,0.13,2,0,2,2,2,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
7,02463086,,Remove vertebral body add-on,A,,3.11,0.98,NA,0.98,,1.03,5.12,5.12,0,ZZZ,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,2,2,2,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
7,02563087,,Remov vertbr dcmprn thrclmbr,A,,36.59,19.06,NA,19.06,,12.14,67.79,67.79,0,090,0.11,0.76,0.13,2,0,2,2,2,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
7,02663088,,Remove vertebral body add-on,A,,4.21,1.37,NA,1.37,,1.44,7.02,7.02,0,ZZZ,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,2,2,2,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3401112,CA,69,VISALIA,1.017,1.096,0.536
3501112,CA,70,YUBA CITY,1.017,1.096,0.536
3601112,CA,75,REST OF CALIFORNIA,1.017,1.096,0.536
3704112,CO,01,COLORADO,1.012,1.064,0.781
3813102,CT,00,CONNECTICUT,1.020,1.077,1.210
3912202,DC,01,DC + MD/VA SUBURBS,1.054,1.178,1.113
4012102,DE,01,DELAWARE,1.005,0.988,0.899