No office rate
Both describe trabeculectomy-family glaucoma surgery. Choose 66172 when prior ocular surgery or trauma has caused scarring that affects the operative setting; 66170 is for the setting without that scarring.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
66172 Glaucoma surgery Medicare reimbursement rates in Michigan
Reports glaucoma filtering surgery performed in an eye with scarring from prior ocular surgery or trauma that affects the operative setting. Compare 66172 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Michigan.
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 66172 in Michigan?
Michigan 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
$989.97–$1037.91
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.
Glaucoma surgery
About 66172: Trabeculectomy in a scarred eye
Reports glaucoma filtering surgery performed in an eye with scarring from prior ocular surgery or trauma that affects the operative setting.
An ophthalmic surgeon performs a filtering operation to lower intraocular pressure by creating a pathway for aqueous humor to leave the eye and collect beneath the conjunctiva. This code applies when scarring from earlier ocular surgery or trauma affects the operative setting. The procedure is commonly performed in an operating room for a patient with glaucoma who needs pressure-lowering surgery.
Document the glaucoma indication, the prior surgery or trauma, and the resulting scarring that supports choosing this code over 66170. The service has a 90-day global period: the day-before preoperative visit and related postoperative care during that period are included. For bilateral surgery, modifier 50 is paid at 150%. When multiple procedures are performed in one session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and others at 50%. An assistant at surgery may be paid; co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation, and team surgery is not permitted.
CMS billing rules for 66172
- 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 procedure with modifier 50 is paid at 150%.
- 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 RVU14.47 · 47%
- Practice expense (office) RVU15.18 · 49%
- Malpractice RVU1.16 · 4%
2.6K
Medicare services in 2024 · #2281 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.
66172 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Michigan, from the same CMS release.
No office rate
66174 describes transluminal dilation of the aqueous outflow canal without a stent. It is a different glaucoma procedure, not trabeculectomy in a scarred eye.
No office rate
66175 describes transluminal dilation of the aqueous outflow canal with a stent. Choose it for that canal-based approach rather than a filtering operation.
No office rate
66180 is aqueous shunt surgery with a graft. It uses a shunt approach rather than the filtering operation reported with 66172.
Compare 66172 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
Detroit →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$1037.91
Rest Of Michigan →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$989.97
Need rates for a whole code list?
Fee-sheet and API access are in early access. Tell us which codes and locations your team needs.
66172 billing questions
How does this differ from 66170?
Use 66172 when scarring from prior ocular surgery or trauma affects the operative setting. Code 66170 is the related trabeculectomy code for the setting without that scarring.
Are routine postoperative visits billed separately?
Related postoperative care during the 90-day global period is included in this surgical service.
How is bilateral surgery reported?
Report modifier 50 for bilateral surgery; CMS pays the bilateral procedure at 150%.
What documentation supports this code?
Document the glaucoma indication and the ocular scarring, including whether it resulted from prior surgery or trauma and how it affects the operative setting.
Can an assistant or co-surgeon be paid?
An assistant at surgery may be paid. Co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation.
What happens when another procedure is performed in the same session?
The highest-valued procedure is paid in full, and other procedures are paid at 50% under the standard multiple procedure reduction.
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.
7,36466155,,Glaucoma surgery,A,,10.26,11.70,NA,11.70,,0.82,22.78,22.78,0,090,0.10,0.70,0.20,2,1,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
7,36566160,,Glaucoma surgery,A,,12.08,12.34,NA,12.34,,0.98,25.40,25.40,0,090,0.10,0.70,0.20,2,1,1,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
7,36666170,,Glaucoma surgery,A,,13.59,13.41,NA,13.41,,1.09,28.09,28.09,0,090,0.10,0.70,0.20,2,1,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
7,36766172,,Incision of eye,A,,14.47,15.18,NA,15.18,,1.16,30.81,30.81,0,090,0.10,0.70,0.20,2,1,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
7,36866174,,Trluml dil aq o/f can w/o st,A,,7.43,8.17,NA,8.17,,0.58,16.18,16.18,0,090,0.10,0.70,0.20,2,1,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
7,36966175,,Trluml dil aq o/f can w/st,A,,9.11,8.74,NA,8.74,,0.72,18.57,18.57,0,090,0.10,0.70,0.20,2,1,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
7,37066179,,Aqueous shunt eye w/o graft,A,,13.65,12.91,NA,12.91,,1.09,27.65,27.65,0,090,0.10,0.70,0.20,2,1,2,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00