CPT code 33956: ECMO cannula insertion, central, younger than five2026 Medicare rate & RVUs in Arkansas

In Arkansas, Medicare pays $679.84 for 33956 in a facility. There’s no office rate.

Check a contract rate as a % of Medicare · 33956 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 33956 covers

This service covers placing cannulae in central vessels or the heart to establish access for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or extracorporeal life support in a patient younger than five. It is typically performed by a cardiac surgeon or another surgeon experienced in ECMO cannulation, often in an operating room or intensive care setting when severe cardiac or respiratory failure requires extracorporeal support. The code represents cannula insertion, not the separate work of initiating or managing ECMO/ECLS.

Select the code based on the patient’s age and central rather than peripheral cannula placement. The operative or procedure note should identify the central access site, cannulae placed, and the patient’s age. CMS assigns a 0-day global period, so same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included. When multiple procedures are performed in one session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures are subject to the standard 50% reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate. Assistant-at-surgery payment requires medical-necessity documentation; co-surgeon and team-surgery payment 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 Arkansas compares for 33956

Across 109 of 109 payment localities, the facility rate for 33956 runs from $664.69 in Wisconsin to $967.46 in Alaska. Arkansas pays $679.84. The RVUs are the same everywhere; the geographic indexes change the dollars.

Every other payment area

33956 rates by state

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

See 33956 in every payment locality

How the 33956 rate is calculated

Each of 33956’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 33956

The CMS indicators that decide how 33956 is paid alongside other services.

What modifiers do to the payment

When to use modifier 51

Codes related to 33956

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

How 33956 has changed in Arkansas

Price 33956 for an earlier date of service

Where the Arkansas rate applies

Arkansas is a Medicare payment area, not a city. Our Census mapping connects it to 626 cities and communities in Arkansas. Some span more than one payment area; confirm with the service ZIP.

• Acorn
• Adona
• Alexander
• Alicia
• Alix
• Alleene
• Allport
• Alma

Browse all communities in Arkansas

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