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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01

31541 Tumor excision Medicare reimbursement rates in Kentucky

Reports operative direct laryngoscopy to excise a laryngeal tumor using an operating microscope or telescope, rather than biopsy alone. Compare 31541 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Kentucky.

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 31541 in Kentucky?

Kentucky 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

$215.55

1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.

Payment area: Kentucky

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.

Find 31541 in your payment locality →

Otolaryngology surgery

About 31541: Operative laryngoscopy with tumor excision

Reports operative direct laryngoscopy to excise a laryngeal tumor using an operating microscope or telescope, rather than biopsy alone.

An otolaryngologist performs direct operative laryngoscopy to expose and remove a tumor in the larynx, using an operating microscope or telescope for visualization. The service is typically performed in an operating room, often under general anesthesia, for a lesion that requires excision rather than tissue sampling alone. The excised tissue may be sent for pathology; the pathology examination is a separate service when performed by a laboratory.

Select this code when the operative report supports tumor excision during direct laryngoscopy and documents use of the operating microscope or telescope. Excision without that operating scope is reported with 31540; biopsy alone is a different service. CMS assigns a 0-day global period, so same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included. When related endoscopies are performed together, endoscopy family pricing applies. Modifier 50 is inappropriate for this code. CMS does not pay an assistant at surgery, and co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.

CMS billing rules for 31541

Global period
Minor procedure with a 0-day global period: same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included.
Multiple procedures
Endoscopy family pricing applies when related endoscopies are performed together.
Bilateral procedures
Bilateral adjustment does not apply; the descriptor or anatomy makes modifier 50 inappropriate.
Assistant at surgery
Statutory restriction: assistant at surgery is not paid.
Co-surgeons
Co-surgeons not permitted.
Team surgery
Team surgery not permitted.

Where the value comes from

  • Work RVU4.41 · 66%
  • Practice expense (office) RVU1.64 · 25%
  • Malpractice RVU0.64 · 10%

6K

Medicare services in 2024 · #1755 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.

31541 compared with similar codes

Office rates for Kentucky, from the same CMS release.

31540

Laryngeal excision

Without operating scope

No office rate

Use 31541 when the operative report documents an operating microscope or telescope during tumor excision. Use 31540 for the corresponding excision without that scope.

31536

Laryngeal biopsy

With operating scope

No office rate

31536 is for laryngoscopic biopsy with an operating microscope or telescope. Choose 31541 when the documented service is excision of a tumor, not biopsy alone.

31535

Laryngeal biopsy

Direct operative approach

No office rate

31535 reports laryngoscopic biopsy without the operating microscope or telescope. It does not describe excision of a tumor.

31545

Vocal cord excision

With operating microscope or telescope

No office rate

31545 is associated with the operative vocal-cord lesion service. Use 31541 when the documented procedure is the laryngoscopic excision of a laryngeal tumor described by this code.

Compare 31541 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

Office and facility base rates · shared scale starting at $0

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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 31541 in Kentucky.

PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv

3,593

Code
31541
Physician work
4.41
Practice expense
1.64
Malpractice
0.64

GPCI2026.csv

55

Locality
Kentucky
Physician work
1.000
Practice expense
0.889
Malpractice
0.915
Facility calculation for 31541 in Kentucky
ComponentRVULocality factorAdjusted
Physician work4.41× 1.0004.4100
Practice expense1.64× 0.8891.4580
Malpractice0.64× 0.9150.5856
Total RVUs6.4536
Conversion factor× 33.4009

Facility rate, Kentucky$215.55

Values as parsed from CMS release RVU26D, effective 2026-10-01. The amount is rounded to the nearest cent only at the end.
Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula

Facility

Facility calculation inputs
ComponentRVULocal GPCI
Work4.411
Practice expense1.640.889
Malpractice0.640.915

(4.41 × 1 + 1.64 × 0.889 + 0.64 × 0.915) × $33.4009 = $215.55

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.

31541 billing questions

How does this differ from 31540?

Both report operative direct laryngoscopy with tumor excision. Report 31541 when the operative documentation supports use of an operating microscope or telescope; 31540 is the corresponding service without that scope.

Can this be reported for a biopsy without tumor removal?

No. For laryngeal tissue sampling without excision of the tumor, consider the laryngoscopy-with-biopsy code that matches whether an operating microscope or telescope was used.

Is the pathology examination included?

The surgical code reports the laryngoscopic excision, not the laboratory's examination of the removed tissue. The pathology service may be reported separately by the laboratory when performed.

Does the 0-day global period include same-day care?

Yes. Same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included in the procedure's 0-day global period.

Can modifier 50 or an assistant-at-surgery claim be used?

Modifier 50 is inappropriate for this code. CMS does not pay an assistant at surgery, and co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.

What happens when another related endoscopy is performed in the same session?

CMS endoscopy family pricing applies when related endoscopies are performed together; the services are not priced as unrelated 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.

RVUs for 31541PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv, line 3,593 (RVU26D)
Geographic factors for KentuckyGPCI2026.csv, line 55 (RVU26D)
Open CMS sourceHow this rate is calculatedBuild a fee sheet