{
    "code": "22551",
    "coding_system": "CPT",
    "canonical_url": "https://localishealth.com/cpt/22551/2021/A",
    "release_specific_url": "https://localishealth.com/cpt/22551/2021/C",
    "description": "Neck surgery approached from the front of the throat, in which a worn or herniated disc is removed to take pressure off the spinal cord and nerve roots, bone spurs are cleared away, and the emptied disc space is packed with graft so the two vertebrae grow together into one solid unit. The decompression and the fusion are bundled into this single code rather than reported as separate steps. This one covers a single disc space anywhere below the second cervical vertebra; each further level treated in the same operation is reported in addition.",
    "answer": {
        "question": "How much did Medicare pay for CPT 22551 in Q3 2021?",
        "text": "Medicare paid $1,752.68 for CPT 22551 in the office (non-facility) setting and $1,752.68 in a facility under the Q3 2021 Physician Fee Schedule, effective July 2021. These are the national allowed amounts before the ~2% sequestration cut and before locality (GPCI) adjustment. This price has been unchanged since Q1 2021, when it decreased 1.7%."
    },
    "release": {
        "schedule": "pfs",
        "year": 2021,
        "quarter": "C",
        "label": "Q3 2021",
        "effective": "July 1 – September 30, 2021",
        "revision": 1
    },
    "status": {
        "code": "A",
        "non_facility_payable": true,
        "facility_payable": true
    },
    "national_rates_usd": {
        "office_non_facility": 1752.68,
        "facility": 1752.68,
        "sequestration_applied": false,
        "gpci": 1
    },
    "rvus": {
        "work": 25,
        "practice_expense_non_facility": 17.59,
        "practice_expense_facility": 17.59,
        "malpractice": 7.64
    },
    "formula": "(work_rvu × work_gpci + pe_rvu × pe_gpci + mp_rvu × mp_gpci) × conversion_factor",
    "conversion_factor": 34.8931,
    "source": {
        "label": "Physician relative value file (Q3 2021)",
        "cms_url": "https://www.cms.gov/files/zip/rvu21c-updated-6302021.zip",
        "local_source_url": "https://localishealth.com/sources/physician-fee-schedule/2021/C",
        "file": "PPRRVU21_JUL.csv",
        "row": 6605,
        "sha256": "ee14b5306942acfe4554d2d7cf3fe95d7b1a0f41fc7a0445bc2d06df857dd7b6"
    },
    "modified_at": "2026-08-04T03:10:45+00:00"
}