No office rate
Use 32310 for parietal pleural removal without pulmonary decortication. Use 32320 when the operation includes decortication of the lung.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
32310 Pleura removal Medicare reimbursement rates in Maine
Thoracic surgeons remove parietal pleura, commonly to reduce recurrent pneumothorax when the operation does not include pulmonary decortication. Compare 32310 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 32310 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
$820.80–$840.85
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.
Thoracic surgery
About 32310: Parietal pleura removal
Thoracic surgeons remove parietal pleura, commonly to reduce recurrent pneumothorax when the operation does not include pulmonary decortication.
A thoracic surgeon removes pleura lining the inside of the chest wall. This operation may be performed for recurrent pneumothorax, where pleural removal promotes adherence between the lung and chest wall and helps prevent another collapse. The code describes removal of parietal pleura; it does not describe stripping a fibrous rind from the lung surface. It is an operating-room service, generally performed by a thoracic surgeon.
Report the service when documentation supports parietal pleural excision and distinguishes it from a more extensive operation that includes pulmonary decortication. The operative report should identify the indication, the tissue removed, and any additional lung or pleural work. 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 others are subject to a 50% reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate. Assistant-at-surgery payment may be available; co-surgeons require supporting documentation, and team surgery is not permitted.
CMS billing rules for 32310
- 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 paid only with supporting documentation.
- Team surgery
- Team surgery not permitted.
Where the value comes from
- Work RVU14.90 · 56%
- Practice expense (office) RVU7.98 · 30%
- Malpractice RVU3.75 · 14%
63
Medicare services in 2024 · #5212 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.
32310 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Maine, from the same CMS release.
No office rate
32650 describes thoracoscopic pleurodesis. 32310 describes parietal pleural removal rather than thoracoscopic pleurodesis.
No office rate
32656 includes thoracoscopic resection of blebs with pleurodesis. 32310 is for parietal pleural removal, not bleb resection.
Compare 32310 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
$820.80
Southern Maine →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$840.85
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32310 billing questions
How is this different from 32320?
32310 represents removal of parietal pleura. Choose 32320 when the operation also includes pulmonary decortication, or removal of a restrictive layer from the lung.
Can this be reported with another thoracic procedure?
A more comprehensive operation may include pleural removal as part of its work. Review the operative report and do not separately report this service when it is integral to the larger procedure.
Should modifier 50 be used for bilateral pleural removal?
No. CMS identifies bilateral adjustment as inappropriate for this code.
What documentation supports reporting 32310?
Document the indication, the parietal pleura removed, and whether the surgeon also performed lung decortication or another more extensive operation.
What postoperative care is included?
The 90-day global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care.
Can an assistant or co-surgeon be reported?
Assistant-at-surgery payment may be available. Co-surgeons require supporting documentation; team surgery is not permitted.
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.
3,70532220,,Release of lung,A,,25.98,13.61,NA,13.61,,6.47,46.06,46.06,0,090,0.10,0.76,0.14,2,1,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,70632225,,Partial release of lung,A,,16.33,8.27,NA,8.27,,4.07,28.67,28.67,0,090,0.10,0.76,0.14,2,1,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,7073230F,,Note hring tst w/in 6 mon,I,,0.00,0.00,,0.00,,0.00,0.00,0.00,9,XXX,0.00,0.00,0.00,9,9,9,9,9,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,70832310,,Removal of chest lining,A,,14.90,7.98,NA,7.98,,3.75,26.63,26.63,0,090,0.10,0.76,0.14,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,70932320,,Free/remove chest lining,A,,26.57,12.72,NA,12.72,,6.60,45.89,45.89,0,090,0.10,0.76,0.14,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,71032400,,Needle biopsy chest lining,A,,1.72,3.08,,0.27,,0.18,4.98,2.17,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,71132408,,Core ndl bx lng/med perq,A,,3.10,20.64,,0.47,,0.34,24.08,3.91,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00