CPT 36471

Across 72,459 services billed by 882 providers to 32,176 beneficiaries, Medicare allowed an average of $187.64 per service. That is 2.3 services per beneficiary, so this is a code patients typically receive more than once. The allowed amount is the figure that matters: it is what Medicare and the patient together owe, set by the fee schedule and adjusted for local practice costs. What a provider chose to submit has no bearing on it.

Two different numbers. Allowed is what Medicare actually allowed in that state, which includes the local practice-cost adjustment. Standardized strips that geographic adjustment out of the payment, so it is the column to use when comparing states — a difference there reflects how the code was billed, not what it costs to run a practice locally.

• 36415Insertion of needle into vein for collection of blood sample$8.49
• 36465Injection of chemical agent into single incompetent vein of leg$1256.40
• 36410Insertion of needle into vein (3 years or older)$16.89
• 36475Destruction of first incompetent vein of arm or leg$1015.19
• 36482Chemical destruction of first incompetent vein of arm or leg$1603.82
• 36478Laser destruction of incompetent vein of arm or leg$907.22
• 36466Injection of chemical agent into multiple incompetent veins of same le$1330.00
• 36470Injection of chemical agent into single incompetent vein$103.15
• 36430Transfusion of blood or blood products$42.77
• 36479Laser destruction of incompetent veins of arm or leg$285.92
• 36476Destruction of subsequent incompetent veins of arm or leg$268.55

An allowed amount is revenue to a practice, not income to a clinician. It funds staff, premises, equipment and supplies before anyone is paid. What clinicians actually earn is published separately by the Department of Labor, and what industry pays them is published separately again by CMS — this site carries both.

What doctors are paid →·Look up a clinician →·All procedure codes →