CPT 15115: Epidermal Autograft for Face/Scalp/Hands/Feet
Medicare pays $884 and commercial payers pay $1076 on average nationally for this procedure.
CPT code 15115 describes the harvesting and placement of an epidermal autograft for anatomically complex or sensitive areas including the face, scalp, eyelids, mouth, neck, ears, orbits, genitalia, hands, feet, and/or multiple digits; the service represents the first 100 cm2 (or 1% body area for infants/children) and is a surgical skin grafting procedure typically performed in an outpatient surgical suite, ambulatory surgery center, or hospital operating room for management of wounds, burns, or scar-related defects.
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National Reimbursement Benchmarks
Medicare's mean rate of $884.3 sits notably below BUCA's average commercial mean of $1,076.4, indicating that commercial BUCA reimbursements are roughly $192 higher on average than Medicare for CPT 15115. This gap highlights a common pattern where commercial contracts pay above Medicare's mean, while individual commercial payers vary substantially around their own means.
Examining dispersion (P75 minus P25) highlights where commercial variability is tightest or widest: Aetna has a range of $188.5, Blue Cross Blue Shield has $629.5, Cigna shows $706.5, UnitedHealth Group is $763.3, and BUCA's interquartile span is $545.4. Aetna is the tightest payer distribution, while UnitedHealth Group displays the widest spread among the listed commercial payers, with Blue Cross Blue Shield and Cigna also showing broader variability than BUCA.