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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01

31574 Vocal fold injection Medicare reimbursement rates in Texas

A laryngologist uses flexible endoscopic guidance to inject augmentation material into one vocal fold, commonly to improve glottic closure and voice. Compare 31574 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Texas.

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 31574 in Texas?

Texas has 8 payment localities in this comparison. Use the service location to choose the applicable amount. These are the supported base rates for the 8 payment areas shown below, using the same CMS release.

Office / nonfacility

$828.01–$947.63

8 of 8 localities have a supported rate.

Lowest: Beaumont

Highest: Austin

A spread of $119.62 per service.

Facility setting

$124.98–$134.15

8 of 8 localities have a supported rate.

Lowest: Beaumont

Highest: Houston

A spread of $9.17 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 31574 in your payment locality →

Where 31574 pays more and less in Texas

8 payment localities

$828.01 to $947.63

$828.01$887.82$947.63
One dot per payment locality, office / nonfacility. Hover a dot to see the locality; select it to open that rate.

Laryngology procedure

About 31574: Flexible laryngoscopy with vocal fold augmentation

A laryngologist uses flexible endoscopic guidance to inject augmentation material into one vocal fold, commonly to improve glottic closure and voice.

An otolaryngologist or laryngologist passes a flexible laryngoscope to visualize the vocal folds and injects material to add bulk to one fold. This is commonly performed for glottic insufficiency, such as when vocal fold paralysis, paresis, or atrophy leaves an incomplete closure affecting voice or airway protection. The procedure may be performed in an office or facility, using an approach such as transoral or percutaneous injection.

Report this code for augmentation of one vocal fold under flexible endoscopic guidance, not for a diagnostic examination alone or an injection with a different therapeutic purpose. The record should identify the treated side, indication, injection approach, and augmentation performed. For bilateral treatment, CMS pays with modifier 50 at 150%. When related endoscopies are performed together, endoscopy family pricing applies. The 0-day global period includes same-day preoperative and postoperative care. Assistant-at-surgery payment requires documentation of medical necessity; co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.

CMS billing rules for 31574

Global period
Minor procedure with a 0-day global period: same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included.
Multiple procedures
Endoscopy family pricing applies when related endoscopies are performed together.
Bilateral procedures
Bilateral procedure with modifier 50 is paid at 150%.
Assistant at surgery
Assistant at surgery is paid only with documentation of medical necessity.
Co-surgeons
Co-surgeons not permitted.
Team surgery
Team surgery not permitted.

Where the value comes from

  • Work RVU2.37 · 9%
  • Practice expense (office) RVU24.27 · 90%
  • Malpractice RVU0.36 · 1%

4.5K

Medicare services in 2024 · #1953 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.

31574 compared with similar codes

Office rates for Texas, from the same CMS release.

31570

Vocal fold injection

Direct, without optical magnification

$325.05–$353.86

This code uses flexible laryngoscopy for vocal fold augmentation. Code 31570 uses direct laryngoscopy with injection.

31571

Vocal fold injection

Microscope or telescope

No office rate

This code is performed with flexible endoscopic guidance. Code 31571 uses direct laryngoscopy with injection and optical magnification.

31573

Laryngoscopy

Therapeutic injection

$268.75–$297.41

Choose this code for augmentation intended to add vocal fold bulk. Code 31573 is for flexible laryngoscopy with a therapeutic injection, such as chemodenervation.

31591

Laryngoplasty

Unilateral medialization

No office rate

This code describes injection augmentation under flexible endoscopic guidance. Code 31591 describes medialization laryngoplasty, a surgical procedure rather than an injection.

Compare 31574 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.

8 of 8 payment localities

31574 office and facility rates by payment locality
Payment localityOfficeFacility
Austin

Office

$947.63

Facility

$130.26
Beaumont

Office

$828.01

Facility

$124.98
Brazoria

Office

$892.52

Facility

$126.91
Dallas

Office

$897.59

Facility

$128.11
Fort Worth

Office

$889.64

Facility

$127.89
Galveston

Office

$894.71

Facility

$127.56
Houston

Office

$901.30

Facility

$134.15
Rest Of Texas

Office

$859.32

Facility

$126.15

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31574 billing questions

When is this code appropriate instead of 31573?

Use this code for injection intended to augment a vocal fold, typically to improve closure. Code 31573 describes flexible laryngoscopy with a therapeutic injection, such as chemodenervation, rather than augmentation.

How should bilateral vocal fold augmentation be reported?

Report the bilateral procedure with modifier 50. CMS pays the bilateral procedure at 150%.

Can a diagnostic laryngoscopy be billed separately during the injection?

The flexible scope is used to guide the augmentation procedure. Do not separately report a diagnostic scope for the same examination work.

What documentation supports the service?

Document the indication for augmentation, the vocal fold treated, the flexible endoscopic guidance, and the injection approach and service performed.

How does the global period affect same-day care?

This procedure has a 0-day global period. Same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included.

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 31574PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv, line 3,607 (RVU26D)