NEVVI Medicare utilization intelligence

Medicare paid for an estimated 300,000 physician earwax removals in the U.S. in 2024

Published Jul 2026 · CMS Part B PUF 📋 Cite See the data →
Estimated Medicare physician earwax removals · 2019–2024
2019: 249K249K20192020: 207K207K20202021: 266K266K20212022: 279K279K20222023: 296K296K20232024: 299K299K2024
Medicare fee-for-service physician removals of impacted earwax billed with a hearing test, one per visit, scaled to total Medicare enrollment (est.). Full method below.

Medicare has a specific line for this: a physician clearing impacted earwax during the same visit as a hearing test. On the fee-for-service record, that ran about 146,000 in 2024.

The volume is steady, not a fad. It holds near this level year over year — a standing benefit, not a surge into a newly opened code.

The service is narrow and specific: removal of impacted cerumen performed the same day as an audiologic exam, not routine at-home ear cleaning.

A volume record of a covered service, not a statement about medical need, quality, or whether the removal was warranted.

What this is

Estimated total-Medicare physician removals of impacted earwax on the same date as a hearing test (one per visit), scaled from the fee-for-service record.

What it is not

Not a count of ears or of patients, not routine at-home ear cleaning, and not all-payer.

How this is counted
Counts of physician removal of impacted earwax (cerumen) performed on the same date of service as a hearing test, on the Medicare fee-for-service record, then scaled to total Medicare enrollment (the estimated total). One per visit covering one or both ears — not per ear and not per patient; a person seen twice in a year counts twice. The scaled figure is an estimate: the calculation assumes Medicare Advantage per-capita utilization ≈ fee-for-service; MA plans may manage utilization differently. Cells under 11 beneficiaries withheld by CMS. Source: Medicare Part B.

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