No office rate
32800 is for repair of a lung hernia. 32820 describes chest-wall reconstruction after injury or surgery; distinguish the codes by the operation documented.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
32800 Lung hernia repair Medicare reimbursement rates in New Jersey
Repair a lung hernia when lung tissue protrudes through a chest-wall defect, typically after thoracic surgery or trauma, and requires operative correction. Compare 32800 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in New Jersey.
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 32800 in New Jersey?
New Jersey 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
$975.59–$1002.66
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 32800: Surgical repair of lung hernia
Repair a lung hernia when lung tissue protrudes through a chest-wall defect, typically after thoracic surgery or trauma, and requires operative correction.
A lung hernia occurs when lung tissue protrudes through a defect in the chest wall, such as an intercostal space weakened by prior thoracic surgery or trauma. A thoracic surgeon repairs the defect and returns the protruding lung to its usual position. The operation is generally performed in a hospital operating room; lung hernias may present as a bulge that becomes more apparent with coughing or straining.
Report 32800 when the operative service is repair of the lung hernia, not simply treatment of a chest-wall injury or closure of a separate fistula. The operative report should identify the herniation and describe its surgical correction. CMS assigns a 90-day global period, including the day-before preoperative visit and related postoperative care for 90 days. For other procedures performed in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures are subject to the standard multiple-procedure reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate. Assistant-at-surgery payment may be made; co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation, and team surgery is not permitted.
CMS billing rules for 32800
- 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 RVU15.32 · 56%
- Practice expense (office) RVU8.35 · 30%
- Malpractice RVU3.79 · 14%
100
Medicare services in 2024 · #4882 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.
32800 compared with similar codes
Office rates for New Jersey, from the same CMS release.
No office rate
32810 concerns closing the chest wall after drainage. It is not the code for correcting lung tissue protruding through a chest-wall defect.
No office rate
32815 is for closure of a bronchial fistula. Choose 32800 when the operative target is a lung hernia rather than a fistulous connection.
Compare 32800 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
Northern Nj →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$1002.66
Rest Of New Jersey →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$975.59
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32800 billing questions
When should 32800 be selected instead of chest-wall reconstruction?
Use 32800 when the operation repairs a lung hernia: lung tissue has protruded through a chest-wall defect and is surgically corrected. A chest-wall reconstruction code such as 32820 describes a different operative service and should not be chosen solely because the hernia involves the chest wall.
Does 32800 include postoperative visits?
Yes. Its 90-day global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and related postoperative care during the 90 days after surgery.
Can modifier 50 be reported for a bilateral lung hernia?
No. CMS identifies bilateral adjustment as inappropriate for this code. Report the service according to the operation performed rather than appending modifier 50.
How are other procedures performed in the same session paid?
Under the standard multiple-procedure reduction, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures performed in that session are subject to a 50% reduction.
Can an assistant or co-surgeon be reported?
Assistant-at-surgery payment may be made. Co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation, while team surgery is not permitted.
What documentation supports reporting 32800?
The operative report should document lung tissue protruding through a chest-wall defect and the surgical repair performed. A record describing only chest-wall injury, drainage-site closure, or bronchial fistula closure does not establish this service.
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.
3,7803274F,,Prost cncr rsk not lw/md/hgh,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
3,7813278F,,Serum lvls ca/ipth/lpd ord,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
3,7823279F,,Hgb lvl >= 13 g/dl,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
3,78332800,,Repair lung hernia,A,,15.32,8.35,NA,8.35,,3.79,27.46,27.46,0,090,0.10,0.76,0.14,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,7843280F,,Hgb lvl 11-12.9 g/dl,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
3,78532810,,Close chest after drainage,A,,14.58,7.92,NA,7.92,,3.66,26.16,26.16,0,090,0.10,0.76,0.14,2,0,2,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,78632815,,Close bronchial fistula,A,,48.78,17.61,NA,17.61,,12.32,78.71,78.71,0,090,0.10,0.76,0.14,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00