CPT code 32557: Pleural catheter, with imaging guidance2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in Montana

In Montana, Medicare pays $647.96 for 32557 in the office and $129.24 when it’s performed in a hospital or facility.

Check a contract rate as a % of Medicare · 32557 nationwide

Medicare allowed amount for participating (non-QP) physicians, before deductible, coinsurance and claim adjustments. Not a patient’s bill or a hospital charge.

What 32557 covers

A clinician places a catheter through the chest wall into the pleural space using imaging to guide its position. The catheter remains in place to drain pleural fluid or air; common situations include a pleural effusion, empyema, or pneumothorax. The service is typically performed by a pulmonologist, interventional radiologist, or other clinician experienced in image-guided pleural procedures, often in a hospital or outpatient procedural setting. Imaging guidance is part of this service, rather than a separate placement without guidance.

Report this code when the procedure documents percutaneous catheter placement and imaging guidance; distinguish it from a one-time pleural aspiration and from placement by an open approach. The code has a 0-day global period, so same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included. For multiple procedures in one session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and others at 50%. Bilateral reporting with modifier 50 is paid at 150%. Assistant-at-surgery payment is restricted, and co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.

This summary was written with AI assistance from CMS physician fee schedule data and checked against the CMS billing rules shown here. Rates on this page come directly from CMS files.

How Montana compares for 32557

Across 109 of 109 payment localities, the office rate for 32557 runs from $567.14 in Arkansas to $890.69 in San Benito County, CA. Montana pays $647.96. The RVUs are the same everywhere; the geographic indexes change the dollars.

Every other payment area

32557 rates by state

Office rate range in each state. Select a state to see its payment localities.

See 32557 in every payment locality

How the 32557 rate is calculated

Each of 32557’s three RVUs is multiplied by a geographic index (GPCI) for the payment locality, added up, and multiplied by the conversion factor. Drag the indexes or enter a ZIP to see what moves the rate.

Payment rules and modifiers for 32557

The CMS indicators that decide how 32557 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 50

Codes related to 32557

Related codes aren’t interchangeable: bill the code that matches the service performed.

How 32557 has changed in Montana

Price 32557 for an earlier date of service

Where the Montana rate applies

Montana is a Medicare payment area, not a city. Our Census mapping connects it to 497 cities and communities in Montana. Some span more than one payment area; confirm with the service ZIP.

• Absarokee
• Acton
• Alberton
• Alder
• Alzada
• Amsterdam
• Anaconda-Deer Lodge County
• Antelope

Browse all communities in Montana

Where these rates come from

FeeBase calculates base physician payments from CMS work, practice-expense and malpractice RVUs, adjusted by each locality’s geographic indexes and the conversion factor. Services without a published rate are labeled, never given a made-up amount. Amounts are Medicare allowed amounts before claim adjustments: not a patient’s bill or a commercial rate.

CMS RVU26D · effective Oct 1, 2026 through the day before Jan 1, 2027

Open CMS sourceHow we calculate rates