No office rate
51550 describes a simple partial cystectomy. Choose 51555 when the operative documentation supports a complicated partial resection.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
51555 Partial cystectomy Medicare reimbursement rates in Texas
Reports complicated surgical removal of part of the bladder, typically for a localized lesion requiring more than a simple partial bladder resection. Compare 51555 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 51555 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
No 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.
Where 51555 pays more and less in Texas
Urology surgery
About 51555: Complicated partial bladder removal
Reports complicated surgical removal of part of the bladder, typically for a localized lesion requiring more than a simple partial bladder resection.
A urologist reports this service when surgery removes part of the bladder in a complicated partial cystectomy, such as resection of a localized bladder tumor that requires a technically involved bladder-wall removal. The operation is generally performed in a hospital operating room. The operative report should establish that the surgeon removed only part of the bladder and explain the complexity of the resection; the diagnosis alone does not distinguish this service from a simpler partial cystectomy.
Select this code based on the documented procedure and complexity, not merely the presence or size of a tumor. When the operation includes ureteral reimplantation, compare the code for partial cystectomy with that additional feature. CMS assigns a 90-day global period, including the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care. For multiple procedures in one session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures are subject to the standard 50% reduction. Assistant-at-surgery payment may be made; co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation, and team surgery is not permitted.
CMS billing rules for 51555
- 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 RVU22.60 · 67%
- Practice expense (office) RVU8.10 · 24%
- Malpractice RVU3.11 · 9%
234
Medicare services in 2024 · #4187 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.
51555 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Texas, from the same CMS release.
No office rate
51565 is the partial cystectomy code that includes ureteral reimplantation. Use it when the operative report documents that work.
No office rate
51570 describes removal of the entire bladder. This code is for removal of only part of the bladder.
No office rate
51530 describes bladder tumor excision through cystotomy; it is not the partial cystectomy service reported for removal of a portion of the bladder.
Compare 51555 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
| Payment locality | Office | Facility |
|---|---|---|
| Austin | Office Unavailable | Facility $1134.64 |
| Beaumont | Office Unavailable | Facility $1097.56 |
| Brazoria | Office Unavailable | Facility $1110.04 |
| Dallas | Office Unavailable | Facility $1120.25 |
| Fort Worth | Office Unavailable | Facility $1118.89 |
| Galveston | Office Unavailable | Facility $1115.56 |
| Houston | Office Unavailable | Facility $1172.49 |
| Rest Of Texas | Office Unavailable | Facility $1105.41 |
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51555 billing questions
How is this distinguished from a simple partial cystectomy?
Use this code when the operative report supports a complicated partial resection. A diagnosis of bladder tumor by itself does not establish that distinction; compare the documented operative work with the simple partial cystectomy code.
Which code applies when the ureter is reimplanted?
Compare this service with 51565, the partial cystectomy code that includes ureteral reimplantation. The operative report should show whether reimplantation was part of the procedure.
Is a bladder tumor removal through cystotomy the same service?
No. A tumor excision through cystotomy is a different procedure from partial removal of the bladder wall. Use the code that matches the documented surgical extent and technique.
What postoperative care is included?
The 90-day global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care.
Can an assistant or co-surgeon be reported?
Assistant-at-surgery payment may be made. Co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation; CMS does not permit team-surgery payment for this code.
How are other procedures in the same session paid?
The highest-valued procedure is paid in full, and other procedures in that session are subject to 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.
6,02951530,,Removal of bladder lesion,A,,13.37,5.76,NA,5.76,,1.72,20.85,20.85,0,090,0.08,0.83,0.09,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
6,03051535,,Repair of ureter lesion,A,,13.55,5.80,NA,5.80,,1.74,21.09,21.09,0,090,0.08,0.83,0.09,2,1,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
6,03151550,,Partial removal of bladder,A,,16.80,6.80,NA,6.80,,2.49,26.09,26.09,0,090,0.08,0.83,0.09,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
6,03251555,,Partial removal of bladder,A,,22.60,8.10,NA,8.10,,3.11,33.81,33.81,0,090,0.08,0.83,0.09,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
6,03351565,,Revise bladder & ureter(s),A,,23.09,8.40,NA,8.40,,2.97,34.46,34.46,0,090,0.08,0.83,0.09,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
6,03451570,,Removal of bladder,A,,26.77,8.83,NA,8.83,,3.45,39.05,39.05,0,090,0.08,0.83,0.09,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
6,03551575,,Removal of bladder & nodes,A,,33.33,10.57,NA,10.57,,4.28,48.18,48.18,0,090,0.08,0.83,0.09,2,2,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00