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68530 Clearance of tear duct

What 68530 is

CMS fee schedule short descriptor: Clearance of tear duct.

Full CPT long descriptions are licensed by the American Medical Association and are not published on this site; the short descriptor above is the one CMS prints in its own fee schedule file. See About CPT.

Medicare payment for 68530 (CY2026)

Work RVUPractice expense RVUMalpractice RVUTotalMedicare rate
Non-facility (office)3.619.090.2812.98$433.54
Facility (hospital, ASC)3.612.480.286.37$212.76

National rates: total RVUs x the CY2026 conversion factor of 33.4009 (non-QP), before geographic adjustment. Actual Medicare payment is 80% of the rate shown after the deductible; the patient or secondary payer owes the 20% coinsurance.


Status: Active - payable under the Physician Fee Schedule. Global period: 10-day global period.

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Medically Unlikely Edit (MUE)

Medicare caps 68530 at 1 unit per date of service for practitioner claims (MAI 2 - date of service edit (absolute): units above the MUE never pay), rationale: CMS Policy. Units above the cap are denied unless the edit's adjudication rules allow an appeal with documentation.

Billed with 68530? These codes are bundled into it

68530 is a Column 1 code in 242 active NCCI PTP edits. When one of these Column 2 codes is reported on the same date of service, it is denied as bundled - unless the edit's modifier indicator is 1 and documentation supports a distinct service with an NCCI-associated modifier.

Column 2 codeShort descriptionModifier indicator
0213TNjx paravert w/us cer/thor0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
0216TNjx paravert w/us lumb/sac0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
0596TTemp fml iu vlv-pmp 1st insj1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
0597TTemp fml iu valve-pmp rplcmt1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
0708TId ca immntx prep & 1st njx1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
0709TId ca immntx each addl njx1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
0903TEcg alg 12 lead reduced i&r1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
0904TEcg alg 12 ld rdcd trcg only1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
0905TEcg alg 12 ld rdcd i&r only1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
11000Dbrdmt ecz/infected skin<10%1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
11001Dbrdmt ecz/infct skn ea addl1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
11004Dbrdmt skin xtrnl gent&per1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
11005Dbrdmt skin abdominal wall1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
11006Dbrdmt skin xtrnl gent per1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
11042Dbrdmt subq tis 1st 20sqcm/<1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
11043Dbrdmt musc&/fsca 1st 20/<1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
11044Dbrdmt bone 1st 20 sq cm/<1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
11045Dbrdmt subq tiss each addl1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
11046Dbrdmt musc&/fsca ea addl1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
11047Dbrdmt bone each addl1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
12001Rpr s/n/ax/gen/trnk 2.5cm/<1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
12002Rpr s/n/ax/gen/trnk2.6-7.5cm1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
12004Rpr s/n/ax/gen/trk7.6-12.5cm1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
12005Rpr s/n/a/gen/trk12.6-20.0cm1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
12006Rpr s/n/a/gen/trk20.1-30.0cm1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
12007Rpr s/n/ax/gen/trnk >30.0 cm1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
12011Rpr f/e/e/n/l/m 2.5 cm/<1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
12013Rpr f/e/e/n/l/m 2.6-5.0 cm1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
12014Rpr f/e/e/n/l/m 5.1-7.5 cm1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
12015Rpr f/e/e/n/l/m 7.6-12.5 cm1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair

Showing 30 of 242 column 2 codes. Use the pair checker for any specific combination.

68530 is bundled into these codes

68530 appears as a Column 2 code in 6 active edits. Reported with one of these Column 1 codes on the same date of service, 68530 is the code that denies.

Column 1 codeShort descriptionModifier indicator
68420I&d lacrimal sac1Check pair
68520Removal of tear sac1Check pair
68720Create tear sac drain1Check pair
68745Create tear duct drain1Check pair
68750Create tear duct drain1Check pair
68841Insj rx elut implt lac canal1Check pair

Data: CMS CY2026 Physician Fee Schedule RVU file (October release, RVU26D) and Medicare NCCI PTP practitioner edits v32.3 (2026 Q4). Verify against the official files before billing or contracting decisions.