CPT 62321: Cervical or Thoracic Epidural Injection, Imaging-Guided
Medicare pays $287 and commercial payers pay $584 on average nationally for this procedure.
CPT code 62321 describes insertion of a needle or catheter and injection of a diagnostic or therapeutic substance (for example, pain medication or steroid) into the epidural space surrounding cervical or thoracic spinal nerves under imaging guidance; service type: image-guided cervical or thoracic epidural injection; typical site of service: hospital outpatient department or ambulatory surgery center (or office setting when imaging and sterility permit).
For related coverage guidance, see recent payer policy updates: Intravenous Anesthetics for the Treatment of Chronic Pain and Psychiatric or Substance Use Disorders, Intravenous Anesthetics for the Treatment of Chronic Pain and Psychiatric or Substance Use Disorders, Intravenous Anesthetics for the Treatment of Chronic Pain and Psychiatric or Substance Use Disorders.
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National Reimbursement Benchmarks
Commercial averages sit well above Medicare for CPT 62321: Blue Cross Blue Shield and BUCA exhibit mean commercial rates of $805.40 and $583.90, respectively, versus a Medicare mean of $287.50. Blue Cross Blue Shield’s mean is roughly $517.90 higher than Medicare’s, and BUCA’s mean is about $296.40 higher, indicating substantial gap between Medicare reimbursement and commercial pricing for this procedure.
Rate dispersion varies notably across payers. Calculating P75–P25 spreads yields the tightest distributions for Aetna (spread $168.00) and Cigna (spread $230.3), while the widest spreads are with Blue Cross Blue Shield (spread $696.50) and UnitedHealth Group (spread $249.3). BUCA’s interquartile spread is $517.60 and Medicare’s interquartile spread is $32.00, highlighting very low local variability for Medicare compared with broader commercial variability.