No office rate
Choose 31601 for a planned tracheostomy in a patient younger than two years. Code 31600 is for patients age two or older.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
31600 Tracheostomy Medicare reimbursement rates in Maine
Reports planned surgical creation of a tracheal airway for a patient age two or older, rather than an emergency airway procedure. Compare 31600 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Maine.
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 31600 in Maine?
Maine has 2 payment localities in this comparison. Use the service location to choose the applicable amount. These are the supported base rates for the 2 payment areas shown below, using the same CMS release.
Office / nonfacility
No supported rate
Facility setting
$255.19–$259.52
2 of 2 localities have a supported rate.
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.
Airway surgery
About 31600: Surgical tracheostomy, age two and older
Reports planned surgical creation of a tracheal airway for a patient age two or older, rather than an emergency airway procedure.
This service creates an airway through the front of the neck into the trachea and places a tracheostomy tube. It is performed by a surgeon, commonly an otolaryngologist, general surgeon, or thoracic surgeon, in an operating room or another controlled setting. Typical situations include anticipated prolonged ventilatory support, upper-airway obstruction, or airway access needed for planned treatment.
Select this code for a planned procedure in a patient age two or older; the patient’s age and whether the airway was created electively or in an emergency distinguish it from nearby tracheostomy codes. The operative report should support the indication, planned approach, tracheal opening, and tube placement. The 0-day global period includes same-day preoperative and postoperative care. When multiple procedures are performed in the same session, Medicare pays the highest-valued procedure in full and reduces the others to 50%. Medicare does not pay an assistant at surgery for this code; co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.
CMS billing rules for 31600
- Global period
- Minor procedure with a 0-day global period: same-day preoperative and postoperative care is 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
- 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 RVU5.42 · 66%
- Practice expense (office) RVU1.69 · 21%
- Malpractice RVU1.07 · 13%
16K
Medicare services in 2024 · #1232 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.
31600 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Maine, from the same CMS release.
No office rate
Choose 31603 for emergency tracheostomy through the trachea. Code 31600 describes a planned procedure.
No office rate
Choose 31605 for emergency airway access through the cricothyroid membrane. Code 31600 is a planned tracheostomy through the trachea.
Compare 31600 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.
2 of 2 payment localities
Rest Of Maine →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$255.19
Southern Maine →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$259.52
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31600 billing questions
How does this code differ from 31601?
Both describe planned surgical tracheostomy, but 31600 is for patients age two or older. Code 31601 is for patients younger than two.
When should an emergency tracheostomy code be used instead?
Use an emergency code when the airway is created urgently rather than as a planned procedure. Code 31603 describes an emergency tracheostomy through the trachea; 31605 describes an emergency airway through the cricothyroid membrane.
Is the tracheostomy tube placement included?
Yes. Placement of the tube through the surgically created tracheal opening is part of the service.
Can an assistant surgeon be billed for this procedure?
Medicare does not pay an assistant at surgery for 31600. Co-surgeon and team-surgery billing are also not permitted for this code.
How does the multiple-procedure reduction affect 31600?
When it is performed with other procedures in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and the other procedures are paid at 50%.
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.
3,61731591,,Laryngoplasty medialization,A,,13.22,14.78,NA,14.78,,1.93,29.93,29.93,0,090,0.10,0.76,0.14,2,1,0,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,61831592,,Cricotracheal resection,A,,24.38,17.90,NA,17.90,,3.56,45.84,45.84,0,090,0.10,0.76,0.14,2,0,0,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,61931599,,Unlisted procedure larynx,C,,0.00,0.00,,0.00,,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,YYY,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,0,0,1,1,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,62031600,,Planned tracheostomy,A,,5.42,1.69,NA,1.69,,1.07,8.18,8.18,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,62131601,,Planned tracheostomy<2 yrs,A,,7.80,2.42,NA,2.42,,1.14,11.36,11.36,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,62231603,,Emer tracheostomy ttrach,A,,5.85,1.41,NA,1.41,,1.08,8.34,8.34,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,62331605,,Emer tracheostomy cthyr mem,A,,6.29,1.40,NA,1.40,,1.37,9.06,9.06,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00