CPT code 33018: Pericardial drainage, age 0–5 or congenital anomaly2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in Virginia

In Virginia, Medicare pays $238.48 for 33018 in a facility. There’s no office rate.

Check a contract rate as a % of Medicare · 33018 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 33018 covers

A physician accesses the pericardial space through the skin and drains fluid, using imaging guidance when performed to guide access. Typical situations include a clinically significant pericardial effusion or tamponade in an infant or young child, or drainage in a patient of any age with a congenital cardiac anomaly. Cardiologists and other physicians experienced in pericardial procedures perform this service in hospital or procedural settings.

Report 33018 for percutaneous pericardial drainage when the patient is age 0–5 or has a congenital cardiac anomaly; that distinction separates it from 33017. Imaging guidance is included when performed. Documentation should support the patient’s age or congenital cardiac history, the clinical indication, percutaneous access, and drainage performed. CMS assigns a 0-day global period, so same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included. In a session with multiple procedures, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and the others at 50%. Modifier 50 is inappropriate for this single pericardial target. Assistant-at-surgery payment is restricted; 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 Virginia compares for 33018

Across 109 of 109 payment localities, the facility rate for 33018 runs from $220.77 in Wisconsin to $322.62 in Alaska. Virginia pays $238.48. The RVUs are the same everywhere; the geographic indexes change the dollars.

Every other payment area

33018 rates by state

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

See 33018 in every payment locality

How the 33018 rate is calculated

Each of 33018’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 33018

The CMS indicators that decide how 33018 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 51

Codes related to 33018

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

How 33018 has changed in Virginia

Price 33018 for an earlier date of service

Where the Virginia rate applies

Virginia is a Medicare payment area, not a city. Our Census mapping connects it to 628 cities and communities in Virginia. Some span more than one payment area; confirm with the service ZIP.

• Abbs Valley
• Abingdon
• Accomac
• Adwolf
• Afton
• Alberta
• Aldie
• Allison Gap

Browse all communities in Virginia

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