CPT code 33955: Central cannulation, birth through age five2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in Puerto Rico

In Puerto Rico, Medicare pays $757.22 for 33955 in a facility. There’s no office rate.

Check a contract rate as a % of Medicare · 33955 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 33955 covers

This service covers placement of central cannulae for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or extracorporeal life support through a sternotomy or thoracotomy in a patient from birth through age five. A cardiothoracic or cardiac surgeon typically performs it in an operating room, including when central access is established during or after cardiac surgery. Central cannulation places access directly in the chest rather than through peripheral vessels.

Select this code based on the patient’s age and the central surgical access documented in the operative report; peripheral cannulation is coded separately. The record should support the need for ECMO/ECLS, the chest approach, and cannula placement. Same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included in the 0-day global period. When multiple procedures occur in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and the others at 50%. Assistant-at-surgery payment requires medical-necessity documentation; co-surgeon and team-surgery claims require supporting documentation.

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 Puerto Rico compares for 33955

Across 109 of 109 payment localities, the facility rate for 33955 runs from $666.72 in Wisconsin to $969.58 in Alaska. Puerto Rico pays $757.22. The RVUs are the same everywhere; the geographic indexes change the dollars.

Every other payment area

33955 rates by state

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

See 33955 in every payment locality

How the 33955 rate is calculated

Each of 33955’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 33955

The CMS indicators that decide how 33955 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 51

Codes related to 33955

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

How 33955 has changed in Puerto Rico

Price 33955 for an earlier date of service

Where the Puerto Rico rate applies

Puerto Rico is a Medicare payment area, not a city. Our Census mapping connects it to 292 cities and communities in Puerto Rico. Some span more than one payment area; confirm with the service ZIP.

• Aceitunas
• Adjuntas
• Aguada
• Aguadilla
• Aguas Buenas
• Aguas Claras
• Aguilita
• Aibonito

Browse all communities in Puerto Rico

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