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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01

63048 Spinal decompression Medicare reimbursement rates in Oregon

Reports each additional vertebral segment decompressed during extensive laminectomy, facetectomy, and foraminotomy for spinal canal or nerve-root compression. Compare 63048 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Oregon.

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 63048 in Oregon?

Oregon 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

$176.32–$183.97

2 of 2 localities have a supported rate.

Lowest: Rest Of Oregon

Highest: Portland

A spread of $7.65 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 63048 in your payment locality →

Spine surgery

About 63048: Additional spinal stenosis decompression segment

Reports each additional vertebral segment decompressed during extensive laminectomy, facetectomy, and foraminotomy for spinal canal or nerve-root compression.

Code 63048 captures each additional vertebral segment decompressed after the first during an extensive laminectomy, facetectomy, and foraminotomy for spinal canal or nerve-root compression. The work may include removing lamina and facet bone and enlarging the foramen to free the spinal cord, cauda equina, or nerve roots. Neurosurgeons and orthopedic spine surgeons commonly perform this operation in an operating room for multilevel stenosis. It can accompany cervical, thoracic, or lumbar primary decompression codes.

Report 63048 only with the applicable primary code—63045, 63046, or 63047—and only for segments beyond the first. The operative report should identify the spinal region and each decompressed vertebral segment and support the extent of bony decompression, rather than a limited laminotomy alone. Count additional segments, not sides; bilateral work at one segment does not create another segment. As an add-on, it is paid within the primary procedure's global period.

CMS billing rules for 63048

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 RVU3.38 · 60%
  • Practice expense (office) RVU1.13 · 20%
  • Malpractice RVU1.10 · 20%

151.3K

Medicare services in 2024 · #449 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.

63048 compared with similar codes

Office rates for Oregon, from the same CMS release.

63047

Lumbar decompression

Single lumbar segment

No office rate

63047 reports the first lumbar segment treated with extensive decompression. Use 63048 for each additional segment in that procedure.

63035

Nerve-root decompression

Each additional interspace

No office rate

63035 covers additional-level laminotomy and nerve-root decompression, a more limited service. Code 63048 is for additional segments treated with laminectomy, facetectomy, and foraminotomy.

63053

Lumbar decompression

Additional fusion segment

No office rate

63053 reports additional lumbar decompression segments when the work is performed during posterior interbody arthrodesis; 63048 accompanies the non-fusion decompression family.

Compare 63048 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

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

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63048 billing questions

Which primary codes can be reported with 63048?

Report it with 63045 for cervical, 63046 for thoracic, or 63047 for lumbar decompression. It represents additional segments beyond the first treated by the primary procedure.

How should units be counted?

Count each additional vertebral segment decompressed after the first. Bilateral decompression at the same segment is still one segment.

Can 63048 be used for a limited laminotomy?

No. This code is for additional segments treated with the extensive laminectomy, facetectomy, and foraminotomy service; a limited laminotomy or nerve-root decompression is a different service.

What should the operative report identify?

Document the spinal region, each vertebral segment treated, and the decompressive work performed. The record should make clear which segment is covered by the primary code and which are additional.

How does a lumbar fusion change code selection?

When the lumbar decompression is performed during posterior interbody arthrodesis, compare the fusion-specific codes 63052 and 63053 with 63047 and 63048. The operative circumstances determine which code family describes the work.

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 63048PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv, line 7,007 (RVU26D)