On this page

CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01

32488 Completion pneumonectomy Medicare reimbursement rates in Vermont

Reports removal of the remaining lung after an earlier partial lung resection, such as when disease requires removal of the residual lung. Compare 32488 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Vermont.

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 32488 in Vermont?

Vermont has 1 payment locality in this comparison. Use the service location to choose the applicable amount. These are the supported base rates for the payment area shown below, using the same CMS release.

Office / nonfacility

No supported rate

Facility setting

$2059.93

1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.

Payment area: Vermont

One mapped payment locality.

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 32488 in your payment locality →

Thoracic surgery

About 32488: Completion pneumonectomy after prior lung resection

Reports removal of the remaining lung after an earlier partial lung resection, such as when disease requires removal of the residual lung.

A completion pneumonectomy removes the remaining lung tissue on the previously operated side after an earlier partial lung resection. Thoracic surgeons typically perform it in a hospital operating room when disease in the residual lung requires removal of the rest of that lung. It is distinct from an initial pneumonectomy, which removes an entire lung without the defining history of a prior partial resection.

Report the code when the operative record supports removal of the residual lung following the earlier resection. Document the prior lung operation, side, indication, and extent of the current procedure. The 90-day global period includes 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 other procedures are subject to the standard 50% reduction. Modifier 50 is not appropriate for this procedure. Assistant-at-surgery payment may be available; co-surgeon claims require supporting documentation, and team-surgery billing is not permitted.

CMS billing rules for 32488

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 RVU41.92 · 63%
  • Practice expense (office) RVU14.55 · 22%
  • Malpractice RVU10.57 · 16%

25

Medicare services in 2024 · #5784 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.

32488 compared with similar codes

Office rates for Vermont, from the same CMS release.

32440

Pneumonectomy

Entire lung removed

No office rate

Code 32440 describes pneumonectomy; 32488 is distinguished by removal of the residual lung after an earlier partial lung resection.

32442

Pneumonectomy

Sleeve airway resection

No office rate

Code 32442 is a sleeve pneumonectomy involving sleeve resection. Choose 32488 for completion removal after a prior partial lung resection when the procedure is not the sleeve operation described by 32442.

32480

Lung resection

Single-lobe lobectomy

No office rate

Code 32480 describes removal of a lung lobe. Code 32488 is for removal of the remaining lung following an earlier partial resection.

32486

Sleeve lobectomy

Lobe resection with airway reconstruction

No office rate

Code 32486 describes sleeve lobectomy. It is a lobe-level sleeve procedure, unlike completion removal of the remaining lung reported with 32488.

Compare 32488 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.

1 of 1 payment localities

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

    Office / nonfacility

    Unavailable

    Facility

    $2059.93

Need rates for a whole code list?

Fee-sheet and API access are in early access. Tell us which codes and locations your team needs.

Explore fee-sheet early access →

How this local rate is calculated

Each RVU component is multiplied by its own geographic practice cost index (GPCI). The three adjusted components are added, then multiplied by the conversion factor. These are the inputs used for 32488 in Vermont.

PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv

3,719

Code
32488
Physician work
41.92
Practice expense
14.55
Malpractice
10.57

GPCI2026.csv

105

Locality
Vermont
Physician work
1.000
Practice expense
0.990
Malpractice
0.506
Facility calculation for 32488 in Vermont
ComponentRVULocality factorAdjusted
Physician work41.92× 1.00041.9200
Practice expense14.55× 0.99014.4045
Malpractice10.57× 0.5065.3484
Total RVUs61.6729
Conversion factor× 33.4009

Facility rate, Vermont$2059.93

Values as parsed from CMS release RVU26D, effective 2026-10-01. The amount is rounded to the nearest cent only at the end.
Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula

Facility

Facility calculation inputs
ComponentRVULocal GPCI
Work41.921
Practice expense14.550.99
Malpractice10.570.506

(41.92 × 1 + 14.55 × 0.99 + 10.57 × 0.506) × $33.4009 = $2059.93

The office and facility calculations use their respective practice-expense RVUs. The facility amount here is the physician fee, not a separate hospital or facility bill.

32488 billing questions

How is this different from code 32440?

Use 32488 when the entire remaining lung is removed after a prior partial lung resection. Code 32440 describes pneumonectomy without that completion-surgery circumstance.

What documentation supports reporting 32488?

The operative report should identify the prior partial lung resection, the side, and removal of the remaining lung tissue. Include the indication and the extent of the current operation.

Can modifier 50 be reported?

No. Modifier 50 is not appropriate because this procedure removes the remaining lung on the previously operated side.

How are other procedures in the same session paid?

Under the standard multiple procedure reduction, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures are paid at 50% when performed in the same session.

How does the global period affect postoperative care?

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 available. Co-surgeons are paid only with supporting documentation; team-surgery billing is not permitted.

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 32488PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv, line 3,719 (RVU26D)
Geographic factors for VermontGPCI2026.csv, line 105 (RVU26D)