CPT code 36555: Central line insertion, under age 52026 Medicare rate & RVUs

Medicare pays $213.43 for 36555 nationally in the office and $79.16 in a hospital or facility. Local office rates run $190.35–$282.08.

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

What 36555 covers

This service covers placement of a non-tunneled central venous catheter in a child younger than five. A physician or other qualified clinician may perform it in an operating room, intensive care unit, emergency department, or another setting requiring central access. Typical access routes include the internal jugular, subclavian, or femoral vein. The catheter provides central venous access for needs such as vasoactive medication, prolonged infusion, or hemodynamic monitoring; it is not a tunneled line, implanted port, or peripherally inserted catheter.

Select this code based on the patient’s age on the service date and the centrally inserted, non-tunneled catheter type. Documentation should identify the indication, catheter and access route, insertion, and the patient’s age. The 0-day global period includes same-day preoperative and postoperative care. Modifier 50 is inappropriate. Medicare does not pay for an assistant-at-surgery service for this code, and co-surgeon and team-surgery reporting is 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.

Where 36555 pays more and less

The same RVUs, adjusted for each area’s costs. Open a locality for its calculation, history and nearby areas.

109 of 109 payment localities

36555 rates by state

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

How the 36555 rate is calculated

Each of 36555’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 36555

The CMS indicators that decide how 36555 is paid alongside other services.

36555 compared with similar codes

How to choose

36556Central line insertionAge 5 years or older

Both describe non-tunneled, centrally inserted central venous catheter placement. The age cutoff separates them: 36555 is for patients younger than five; 36556 is for patients age five or older.

36557Tunneled catheterUnder age five, no port

Use 36557 when the central catheter is tunneled in a patient younger than five. Code 36555 describes non-tunneled placement.

36568PICC insertionUnder 5, no imaging

Code 36568 describes PICC insertion in a patient younger than five. Code 36555 is for a centrally inserted, non-tunneled catheter.

Codes related to 36555

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

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