No office rate
63077 reports the primary thoracic interspace procedure; 63078 reports each additional thoracic interspace and must accompany the primary code.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
63078 Thoracic disk surgery Medicare reimbursement rates in Massachusetts
Reports anterior thoracic disk removal with spinal cord or nerve root decompression at each additional interspace beyond the primary thoracic level. Compare 63078 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Massachusetts.
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 63078 in Massachusetts?
Massachusetts 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
$183.39–$195.47
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.
Spine surgery
About 63078: Additional thoracic disk space decompression
Reports anterior thoracic disk removal with spinal cord or nerve root decompression at each additional interspace beyond the primary thoracic level.
This add-on represents treatment of an additional thoracic disk interspace through an anterior approach, removing disk material and decompressing the spinal cord or nerve root; associated bone spurs may also be removed. It is typically performed by a spine surgeon or neurosurgeon in an operating room for thoracic disk disease causing cord or nerve root compression. The code describes another interspace treated, not another piece of disk removed from the same space.
Report 63078 only with the primary thoracic interspace procedure, 63077. The operative report should identify the thoracic interspaces treated and document the anterior disk removal and neural decompression at each additional space. CMS classifies 63078 as an add-on code: it is billed with a primary procedure and paid within that procedure’s global period.
CMS billing rules for 63078
- Global period
- Add-on code: billed only together with a primary procedure and paid within that procedure's global period.
Where the value comes from
- Work RVU3.20 · 57%
- Practice expense (office) RVU1.12 · 20%
- Malpractice RVU1.33 · 24%
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.
63078 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Massachusetts, from the same CMS release.
No office rate
Both are add-on codes for an additional interspace, but 63076 applies to the cervical region and 63078 to the thoracic region.
No office rate
63055 describes thoracic disk decompression through a transpedicular approach; 63078 is for an additional interspace treated with the anterior disk procedure.
No office rate
63086 adds another thoracic vertebral body removal for decompression; 63078 adds another thoracic interspace treated by disk surgery.
Compare 63078 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
Metropolitan Boston →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$195.47
Rest Of Massachusetts →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$183.39
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63078 billing questions
What primary code must accompany 63078?
Report 63078 with 63077 for the primary thoracic interspace. It is not reported by itself.
When is 63078 used instead of 63077?
Use 63077 for the primary thoracic interspace and 63078 for each additional thoracic interspace treated by the anterior disk procedure.
What documentation supports an additional unit?
The operative report should identify each additional thoracic interspace and describe disk removal and spinal cord or nerve root decompression there.
Is 63078 paid outside the primary procedure’s global period?
No. CMS identifies it as an add-on code paid within the primary procedure’s global period.
Does 63078 describe removal of another disk fragment?
No. It represents treatment of an additional interspace, not additional material removed from the same interspace.
How does 63078 differ from thoracic vertebral body removal?
63078 describes an additional interspace treated through an anterior disk procedure. Code 63086 is an add-on for additional thoracic vertebral body removal performed for decompression.
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.
7,01763075,,Neck spine disk surgery,A,,19.11,13.12,NA,13.12,,6.34,38.57,38.57,0,090,0.11,0.76,0.13,2,0,2,2,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
7,01863076,,Neck spine disk surgery,A,,3.94,1.30,NA,1.30,,1.26,6.50,6.50,0,ZZZ,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,2,2,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
7,01963077,,Spine disk surgery thorax,A,,22.31,12.21,NA,12.21,,4.75,39.27,39.27,0,090,0.11,0.76,0.13,2,0,2,2,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
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