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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01

33251 Surgical ablation Medicare reimbursement rates in Colorado

Reports open surgical ablation of a supraventricular arrhythmogenic focus or pathway when the operation is performed with cardiopulmonary bypass. Compare 33251 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Colorado.

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 33251 in Colorado?

Colorado 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

$1515.13

1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.

Payment area: Colorado

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.

Find 33251 in your payment locality →

Cardiac surgery

About 33251: Open supraventricular focus ablation with bypass

Reports open surgical ablation of a supraventricular arrhythmogenic focus or pathway when the operation is performed with cardiopulmonary bypass.

This code covers an open operation to ablate a supraventricular arrhythmogenic focus or pathway, such as a pathway responsible for Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. A cardiac surgeon typically performs the procedure in the operating room with cardiopulmonary bypass. It is distinct from catheter-based electrophysiologic ablation and from broader atrial tissue ablation procedures used for atrial fibrillation.

Select the code when the operative report supports ablation of a supraventricular focus or pathway and documents use of cardiopulmonary bypass; the no-bypass counterpart is 33250. The 90-day global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care. When multiple procedures are performed in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures are subject to the standard multiple procedure reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate. An assistant at surgery may be paid; co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation, and team surgery is not permitted.

CMS billing rules for 33251

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 RVU28.20 · 61%
  • Practice expense (office) RVU10.60 · 23%
  • Malpractice RVU7.10 · 15%

22

Medicare services in 2024 · #5866 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.

33251 compared with similar codes

Office rates for Colorado, from the same CMS release.

33250

Cardiac ablation

Without cardiopulmonary bypass

No office rate

Choose 33251 when cardiopulmonary bypass is used for the operative ablation; 33250 describes the corresponding operation without bypass.

33256

Atrial ablation

Extensive, with bypass

No office rate

33256 describes extensive atrial tissue ablation and reconstruction with bypass. 33251 is for operative ablation of a supraventricular focus or pathway.

93653

SVT ablation

Comprehensive EP evaluation

No office rate

93653 is a catheter-based electrophysiologic ablation service. 33251 describes open surgical ablation performed with cardiopulmonary bypass.

Compare 33251 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

Office and facility base rates · shared scale starting at $0

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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 33251 in Colorado.

PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv

3,876

Code
33251
Physician work
28.20
Practice expense
10.60
Malpractice
7.10

GPCI2026.csv

37

Locality
Colorado
Physician work
1.012
Practice expense
1.064
Malpractice
0.781
Facility calculation for 33251 in Colorado
ComponentRVULocality factorAdjusted
Physician work28.20× 1.01228.5384
Practice expense10.60× 1.06411.2784
Malpractice7.10× 0.7815.5451
Total RVUs45.3619
Conversion factor× 33.4009

Facility rate, Colorado$1515.13

Values as parsed from CMS release RVU26D, effective 2026-10-01. The amount is rounded to the nearest cent only at the end.
Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula

Facility

Facility calculation inputs
ComponentRVULocal GPCI
Work28.21.012
Practice expense10.61.064
Malpractice7.10.781

(28.2 × 1.012 + 10.6 × 1.064 + 7.1 × 0.781) × $33.4009 = $1515.13

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.

33251 billing questions

How does 33251 differ from 33250?

Both describe operative ablation of a supraventricular arrhythmogenic focus or pathway. Use 33251 when the operation uses cardiopulmonary bypass; 33250 is the no-bypass counterpart.

Is this the code for a catheter ablation?

No. This code describes open surgical ablation performed with cardiopulmonary bypass. Catheter-based electrophysiologic ablation is a different service.

Can modifier 50 be appended?

No. CMS identifies bilateral adjustment as inappropriate for this code because of its descriptor or anatomy.

What postoperative care is included?

The 90-day global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care.

Can an assistant or co-surgeon be reported?

Assistant-at-surgery services may be paid. Co-surgeon payment requires supporting documentation; team surgery is not permitted.

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.

RVUs for 33251PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv, line 3,876 (RVU26D)
Geographic factors for ColoradoGPCI2026.csv, line 37 (RVU26D)
Open CMS sourceHow this rate is calculatedBuild a fee sheet