No office rate
Use 33031 when cardiopulmonary bypass supports the pericardiectomy; use 33030 when the operation is performed without bypass.
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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
33031 Pericardiectomy Medicare reimbursement rates in Alabama
Reports surgical removal of part or most of the pericardium with cardiopulmonary bypass, commonly for constrictive disease requiring operative treatment. Compare 33031 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Alabama.
Amounts below use the non-QP conversion factor for participating physicians. These are base physician payments before claim-level adjustments, not patient costs or total hospital charges.
What does Medicare pay for 33031 in Alabama?
Alabama has 1 payment locality in this comparison. Use the service location to choose the applicable amount. These are the supported base rates for the payment area shown below, using the same CMS release.
Office / nonfacility
No supported rate
Facility setting
$2093.63
1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.
Payment area: Alabama
One mapped payment locality.
These are locality ranges, not averages or address-specific quotes. A facility-setting amount covers the physician service; it does not include a hospital’s separate bill. Choose a locality below to inspect its calculation, compare other payment areas, or price a percentage of Medicare.
Cardiothoracic surgery
About 33031: Pericardiectomy with cardiopulmonary bypass
Reports surgical removal of part or most of the pericardium with cardiopulmonary bypass, commonly for constrictive disease requiring operative treatment.
A cardiothoracic surgeon removes diseased, thickened, or constricting pericardium while the patient is supported with cardiopulmonary bypass. The operation is typically performed in a hospital operating room for conditions such as constrictive pericarditis when a limited drainage opening would not address the disease. The operative report should establish the extent of pericardial removal and use of bypass.
Choose this code when the documented pericardiectomy is performed with cardiopulmonary bypass; the sibling code 33030 describes the operation without bypass. This major surgery has a 90-day global period, including the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care. 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 because the pericardium is not paired right-left anatomy. Assistant-at-surgery payment may be available; co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation, and team surgery is not permitted.
CMS billing rules for 33031
- Global period
- Major surgery with a 90-day global period: the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care are included.
- Multiple procedures
- Standard multiple procedure reduction: the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and others at 50% when performed in the same session.
- Bilateral procedures
- Bilateral adjustment does not apply; the descriptor or anatomy makes modifier 50 inappropriate.
- Assistant at surgery
- Assistant at surgery may be paid.
- Co-surgeons
- Co-surgeons paid only with supporting documentation.
- Team surgery
- Team surgery not permitted.
Where the value comes from
- Work RVU43.88 · 63%
- Practice expense (office) RVU14.45 · 21%
- Malpractice RVU10.88 · 16%
219
Medicare services in 2024 · #4246 by national volume
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.
33031 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Alabama, from the same CMS release.
No office rate
33025 represents a pericardial window or limited resection for drainage. 33031 represents pericardiectomy with bypass, not drainage alone.
No office rate
33016 is pericardiocentesis with imaging for fluid drainage; 33031 is surgical removal of pericardium with bypass.
No office rate
33050 is used for excision of a pericardial cyst or tumor; 33031 is pericardiectomy for removal of diseased or constricting pericardium.
Compare 33031 by payment locality
Find the payment area for your service address, then open its rate page for calculation inputs, release history and the percentage-of-Medicare tool. A city may cross payment-area boundaries; the ZIP lookup above helps resolve the location.
1 of 1 payment localities
Alabama →
Office / nonfacility
Unavailable
Facility
$2093.63
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How this local rate is calculated
Each RVU component is multiplied by its own geographic practice cost index (GPCI). The three adjusted components are added, then multiplied by the conversion factor. These are the inputs used for 33031 in Alabama.
PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv
3,822
- Code
- 33031
- Physician work
- 43.88
- Practice expense
- 14.45
- Malpractice
- 10.88
GPCI2026.csv
4
- Locality
- Alabama
- Physician work
- 1.000
- Practice expense
- 0.875
- Malpractice
- 0.566
| Component | RVU | Locality factor | Adjusted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physician work | 43.88 | × 1.000 | 43.8800 |
| Practice expense | 14.45 | × 0.875 | 12.6437 |
| Malpractice | 10.88 | × 0.566 | 6.1581 |
| Total RVUs | 62.6818 | ||
| Conversion factor | × 33.4009 | ||
Facility rate, Alabama$2093.63
Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula
Facility
| Component | RVU | Local GPCI |
|---|---|---|
| Work | 43.88 | 1 |
| Practice expense | 14.45 | 0.875 |
| Malpractice | 10.88 | 0.566 |
(43.88 × 1 + 14.45 × 0.875 + 10.88 × 0.566) × $33.4009 = $2093.63
The office and facility calculations use their respective practice-expense RVUs. The facility amount here is the physician fee, not a separate hospital or facility bill.
33031 billing questions
How does 33031 differ from 33030?
Both describe subtotal or complete pericardial removal. Report 33031 when cardiopulmonary bypass is used; 33030 is the corresponding service without bypass.
Is a pericardial window reported with 33031?
A pericardial window or limited resection for drainage is represented by 33025, not by treating part of the pericardiectomy as a separate window. The operative documentation should clarify the procedure performed.
What documentation supports 33031?
The operative report should describe the pericardial removal and document cardiopulmonary bypass use. It should make clear that the service was a pericardiectomy rather than drainage alone.
Can modifier 50 be used?
No. Modifier 50 is inappropriate because pericardiectomy involves the heart sac, not a paired right and left structure.
How are assistant and co-surgeon services handled?
Assistant-at-surgery payment may be available. Co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation, and team surgery is not permitted for this code.
What happens when another procedure is performed in the same session?
The highest-valued procedure is paid in full, with other procedures subject to the standard multiple-procedure reduction to 50%.
Where these rates come from
FeeBase calculates base physician payments from CMS work, practice-expense, and malpractice RVUs, adjusted by each locality’s geographic indices and the applicable conversion factor. Unavailable or separately priced services are labeled rather than assigned a made-up amount.
Source: RVU26D. Effective 2026-10-01 through the day before 2027-01-01.
3,81933020,,Incision of heart sac,A,,13.95,6.10,NA,6.10,,3.41,23.46,23.46,0,090,0.09,0.84,0.07,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,82033025,,Incision of heart sac,A,,12.87,6.11,NA,6.11,,3.18,22.16,22.16,0,090,0.09,0.84,0.07,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,82133030,,Partial removal of heart sac,A,,35.10,12.42,NA,12.42,,8.70,56.22,56.22,0,090,0.09,0.84,0.07,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,82233031,,Partial removal of heart sac,A,,43.88,14.45,NA,14.45,,10.88,69.21,69.21,0,090,0.09,0.84,0.07,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,82333050,,Resect heart sac lesion,A,,16.55,8.30,NA,8.30,,4.17,29.02,29.02,0,090,0.09,0.84,0.07,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,82433120,,Exc icar tum resc w/card byp,A,,37.49,11.70,NA,11.70,,9.24,58.43,58.43,0,090,0.09,0.84,0.07,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
3,82533130,,Rescj external cardiac tumor,A,,23.57,10.02,NA,10.02,,5.63,39.22,39.22,0,090,0.09,0.84,0.07,2,0,2,1,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
1ADDENDUM E. FINAL CY 2026 GEOGRAPHIC PRACTICE COST INDICES (GPCIs) BY STATE AND MEDICARE LOCALITY,,,,,,
2,,,,,,
3Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC),State,Locality Number,Locality Name,2026 PW GPCI (with 1.0 Floor)***,2026 PE GPCI,2026 MP GPCI
410112,AL,00,ALABAMA,1.000,0.875,0.566
502102,AK,01,ALASKA*,1.500,1.065,0.551
603102,AZ,00,ARIZONA,1.000,0.969,0.856
707102,AR,13,ARKANSAS,1.000,0.859,0.515