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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01

63286 Spinal lesion surgery Medicare reimbursement rates in Missouri

Reports a thoracic laminectomy to biopsy or remove a neoplasm located inside the dura and within the spinal cord itself. Compare 63286 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Missouri.

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 63286 in Missouri?

Missouri has 3 payment localities in this comparison. Use the service location to choose the applicable amount. These are the supported base rates for the 3 payment areas shown below, using the same CMS release.

Office / nonfacility

No supported rate

Facility setting

$2376.80–$2459.16

3 of 3 localities have a supported rate.

Lowest: Rest Of Missouri

Highest: Metropolitan St. Louis

A spread of $82.36 per service.

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 63286 in your payment locality →

Where 63286 pays more and less in Missouri

Neurosurgery

About 63286: Thoracic intramedullary spinal lesion biopsy or excision

Reports a thoracic laminectomy to biopsy or remove a neoplasm located inside the dura and within the spinal cord itself.

A neurosurgeon uses a laminectomy to reach a thoracic spinal cord lesion, opens the dura, and obtains a biopsy or removes the lesion. The code distinguishes a lesion within the cord from one that is extradural or inside the dura but outside the cord. These operations are generally performed in a hospital operating room; the operative report should establish the thoracic level, the lesion’s relationship to the dura and cord, and whether tissue was sampled or removed.

Report this code for the thoracic intradural, intramedullary neoplasm procedure, rather than selecting by the amount of tissue removed alone. The laminectomy and exposure are part of the service. The code has a 90-day global period, including the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care. When multiple procedures occur in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and others at 50%. Modifier 50 is inappropriate. An assistant at surgery may be paid; co-surgeons require supporting documentation, and team surgery is not permitted.

CMS billing rules for 63286

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 RVU36.68 · 49%
  • Practice expense (office) RVU22.61 · 30%
  • Malpractice RVU15.39 · 21%

115

Medicare services in 2024 · #4773 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.

63286 compared with similar codes

Office rates for Missouri, from the same CMS release.

63281

Spinal lesion surgery

Thoracic intradural lesion

No office rate

Both address thoracic intradural neoplasms, but 63281 is for a lesion outside the spinal cord; 63286 is for one within the cord.

63276

Spinal lesion surgery

Thoracic, extradural neoplasm

No office rate

63276 applies to a thoracic extradural neoplasm. Choose 63286 when the lesion is intradural and intramedullary.

63285

Spinal cord lesion

Cervical, intramedullary

No office rate

The lesion compartment and procedure are similar, but 63285 is for the cervical level rather than the thoracic level.

63287

Spinal lesion surgery

Thoracolumbar, intramedullary

No office rate

This sibling code is for the thoracolumbar level; 63286 identifies the thoracic level.

Compare 63286 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.

3 of 3 payment localities

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

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63286 billing questions

How is this code distinguished from the thoracic extramedullary code?

Use this code when the lesion is within the spinal cord. A lesion inside the dura but outside the cord is extramedullary and points to 63281.

Does the laminectomy have a separate code?

The laminectomy provides access for the biopsy or excision represented by this service; it is not separately reported as a separate access procedure for the same operation.

What documentation supports code selection?

Document the thoracic level, that the lesion is intradural and within the cord, and whether the surgeon performed a biopsy, excision, or both.

Can an assistant or co-surgeon be reported?

An assistant at surgery may be paid. Co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation; team surgery is not permitted.

Can modifier 50 be used for a lesion on one side of the cord?

No. The CMS bilateral adjustment does not apply, and modifier 50 is inappropriate for this code.

How does the 90-day global affect postoperative services?

The day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care are included in the global period.

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 63286PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv, line 7,060 (RVU26D)