Lung hernia repair
32800 addresses a lung hernia protruding through the chest wall. Use 32820 when the operative work is major reconstruction of the chest wall itself.
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
Report major reconstruction to restore chest-wall structure after substantial injury-related damage, rather than for a limited fistula closure or focal lung hernia repair. Compare 32820 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Indiana.
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.
Indiana 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.
No supported rate
$1190.72
1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.
Payment area: Indiana
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.
Thoracic surgery
Report major reconstruction to restore chest-wall structure after substantial injury-related damage, rather than for a limited fistula closure or focal lung hernia repair.
This service rebuilds a substantially damaged chest wall, commonly after trauma that has left a large defect or disrupted the chest wall’s structural support. A thoracic surgeon typically performs the reconstruction in an operating room, restoring support and coverage; the repair may involve graft or prosthetic material. The work is more extensive than closing a drainage site or repairing a focal lung hernia.
Select the code when the operative report supports major reconstruction, describing the injury, defect, structures rebuilt, and materials used. The 90-day global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and related postoperative care during the following 90 days. For multiple procedures in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures are reduced to 50%. Modifier 50 is inappropriate. An assistant at surgery may be paid; co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation, and team surgery is not permitted.
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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.
Office rates for Indiana, from the same CMS release.
Lung hernia repair
32800 addresses a lung hernia protruding through the chest wall. Use 32820 when the operative work is major reconstruction of the chest wall itself.
32810 is for closing the chest wall after drainage. It does not describe major reconstruction of a substantially damaged chest wall.
32815 addresses closure of a bronchial fistula. Choose 32820 when the principal work is rebuilding the chest wall rather than closing the fistula.
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
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$1190.72
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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 32820 in Indiana.
PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv
3,788
GPCI2026.csv
52
| Component | RVU | Locality factor | Adjusted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physician work | 21.95 | × 1.000 | 21.9500 |
| Practice expense | 11.90 | × 0.927 | 11.0313 |
| Malpractice | 5.49 | × 0.486 | 2.6681 |
| Total RVUs | 35.6494 | ||
| Conversion factor | × 33.4009 | ||
Facility rate, Indiana$1190.72
| Component | RVU | Local GPCI |
|---|---|---|
| Work | 21.95 | 1 |
| Practice expense | 11.9 | 0.927 |
| Malpractice | 5.49 | 0.486 |
(21.95 × 1 + 11.9 × 0.927 + 5.49 × 0.486) × $33.4009 = $1190.72
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.
Use 32820 for major reconstruction of a substantial chest-wall defect, such as injury-related structural damage. A focal lung hernia repair or closure after drainage has a more specific code.
The operative report should establish the cause and extent of the defect, identify the chest-wall structures reconstructed, and describe the reconstructive work and materials used.
No. Modifier 50 is inappropriate for this service.
Under the standard multiple procedure reduction, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures are paid at 50%.
An assistant at surgery may be paid. Co-surgeons are paid only when supporting documentation is provided; team surgery is not permitted.
The 90-day global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and related postoperative care for 90 days after surgery.
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.