Contractor-priced
50323 · PFS Q1 2021 · Historical
No national PFS rate in Q1 2021
Your Medicare Administrative Contractor prices this code case by case, usually after reviewing documentation.
PFS status evidence
Inspect PFS status evidence
- Code
- 50323
- Release
- Q1 2021, revision 1
- Result
- Contractor-priced
Citations
-
Shows this code’s PFS status (C). Result: Contractor-priced.
Physician relative value file (PPRRVU)CMS RVU21AJanuary 1 – March 31, 2021
This PFS record alone does not establish a $0 allowance or a coverage determination. Any amount from another schedule needs its own evidence.
PPRRVU21_JAN.csv row 10,288 in rvu21a-updated-01052021.zip
In the CMS file
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CPT 50323 has no published national rate. It carries status C (carrier-priced) in the Q1 2021 release. Your Medicare Administrative Contractor prices this code case by case, usually after reviewing documentation. The blank amount means unpriced, not $0.
Why is there no national PFS amount for 50323?
Its status indicator is C (carrier-priced). Your Medicare Administrative Contractor prices this code case by case, usually after reviewing documentation.
Payment considerations Copy link
Here are the inputs and payment rules that apply to this code. Each link takes you to the detail below.
Other payment indicators (7)
Why would a Medicare claim for 50323 be denied or paid less?
These come from CMS indicators on this page, not general billing advice.
- Its status indicator is C (carrier-priced)—Your Medicare Administrative Contractor prices this code case by case, usually after reviewing documentation. See status indicators
- Bilateral surgery: no bilateral adjustment. See billing policy
- Co-surgeons: payable with documentation. See billing policy
- Team surgery: not permitted. See billing policy
- Multiple procedures: standard reduction applies. See billing policy
Payer-specific coverage and documentation rules live outside these files, so a claim that clears every check here can still be denied on other grounds.
Which billing rules and modifiers apply? Copy link
Global period: what 50323's fee already covers Copy link
The global surgery concept does not apply to this code.
Billing policy Copy link
These billing-policy indicators explain how 50323 is treated. They apply whether the code is nationally priced or carrier-priced: a restriction like "bilateral not allowed" still matters on a carrier-priced code.
| Policy | Value | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Bilateral surgery | 0 | No bilateral adjustment. The 150% bilateral payment adjustment does not apply to this procedure. |
| Assistant at surgery | 2 | Payable. An assistant at surgery may be separately paid for this procedure, typically as a percentage of the fee schedule amount. |
| Co-surgeons | 1 | Payable with documentation. Co-surgeons may be paid, but only with supporting documentation establishing the medical necessity of two surgeons. |
| Team surgery | 0 | Not permitted. Medicare does not recognize a surgical team (modifier 66) for this procedure. |
| Multiple procedures | 2 | Standard reduction applies. When billed with other procedures on the same date, the highest-valued one is paid at 100% and the next four at 50% each. |
| Professional/technical split | 0 | No PC/TC split. This is a physician service code; the professional/technical split does not apply, and the code is billed as a single service. |
Can you bill it with another code? Copy link
Check a pair of codes Copy link
Enter a second CPT or HCPCS code billed on the same date of service. We'll check the current NCCI procedure-to-procedure edit for the pair.
Reconciling a contractor-priced payment for 50323 Copy link
There is no national allowed amount for 50323, so every reconciliation of this line runs against the MAC fee schedule that was in force for the date of service rather than against a national baseline.
What to check
- Compare the paid amount against the MAC fee schedule in force for the date of service; there is no national allowed amount here to reconcile against.
- Rank the claim’s procedure lines before calling a reduced line short-paid—under the standard multiple-procedure rule only the highest-valued one prices in full.
- Check that any -80 or -AS line was priced from the same release and locality as the primary line; an assistant at surgery prices at a percentage of the fee-schedule amount.
- Check for documentation supporting two surgeons before appealing a modifier 62 denial—co-surgeon payment on this procedure depends on it.
- Reprice the line against the release, locality, setting, modifier and participation status that applied to the date of service before treating any difference as an underpayment.
Compare against 50320, 50325 and 50290: their amounts are in Related codes.
Sources: CMS Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Relative Value Files; CMS Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Relative Value Files (status indicator field); CMS Medicare Claims Processing Manual (Pub. 100-04); 42 USC 1395w-4(i)(2) (SSA §1848(i)(2))—Assistants-at-surgery.
How has it changed? Copy link
When does this rate change?
CMS publishes a fee schedule release every quarter (January, April, July, October), and each is versioned here. See what changed each release, or get an email when a new release moves rates.
Sources: CMS Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Relative Value Files.
Usage and related codes Copy link
How often 50323 is billed Copy link
Across Original Medicare in CY2024, 50323 ranked #2,588 of the 7,879 CPT codes billed to Medicare that year, by patients served or total allowed dollars.
2024 Medicare fee-for-service national totals. They exclude Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and commercial volume, so real-world use runs higher. This is a calendar-year snapshot from the CMS Physician & Other Practitioners dataset, on a different cycle from the Q1 2021 fee schedule above.
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Source & method
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Contractor amounts come from the MAC-published schedules and effective dates shown above. The PFS file shows this code is priced by the contractor. Past releases are never edited, so these sources stay valid after CMS publishes a newer one. Our methodology explains sourcing, parsing, versioning, and how we cross-check claims before we publish them.
Cite this rate
The citation names the release, so anyone can check it even after CMS publishes a newer one.
CPT 50323 National PFS baseline: No national PFS rate (Q1 2021; participating physician; whole service; GPCI 1.000; sequestration excluded). CMS RVU21A, PPRRVU21_JAN.csv row 10,288. Localis. https://localishealth.com/cpt/50323/2021/A