$218.48
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.
On this page
CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
36555 Central line insertion Medicare reimbursement rates in Iowa
Reports placement of a non-tunneled, centrally inserted venous catheter in a child younger than five, such as for intensive-care infusions or monitoring. Compare 36555 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Iowa.
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 36555 in Iowa?
Iowa 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
$197.86
1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.
Payment area: Iowa
One mapped payment locality.
Facility setting
$75.00
1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.
Payment area: Iowa
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.
Central venous access
About 36555: Non-tunneled central venous catheter insertion under age five
Reports placement of a non-tunneled, centrally inserted venous catheter in a child younger than five, such as for intensive-care infusions or monitoring.
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.
CMS billing rules for 36555
- Global period
- Minor procedure with a 0-day global period: same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included.
- Bilateral procedures
- Bilateral adjustment does not apply; the descriptor or anatomy makes modifier 50 inappropriate.
- Assistant at surgery
- Statutory restriction: assistant at surgery is not paid.
- Co-surgeons
- Co-surgeons not permitted.
- Team surgery
- Team surgery not permitted.
Where the value comes from
- Work RVU1.88 · 29%
- Practice expense (office) RVU4.35 · 68%
- Malpractice RVU0.16 · 3%
21
Medicare services in 2024 · #5893 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.
36555 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Iowa, from the same CMS release.
$1,146.33
Use 36557 when the central catheter is tunneled in a patient younger than five. Code 36555 describes non-tunneled placement.
No office rate
Code 36568 describes PICC insertion in a patient younger than five. Code 36555 is for a centrally inserted, non-tunneled catheter.
Compare 36555 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
Iowa →
Office / nonfacility
$197.86
Facility
$75.00
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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 36555 in Iowa.
PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv
4,504
- Code
- 36555
- Physician work
- 1.88
- Practice expense
- 4.35
- Malpractice
- 0.16
GPCI2026.csv
53
- Locality
- Iowa
- Physician work
- 1.000
- Practice expense
- 0.915
- Malpractice
- 0.397
| Component | RVU | Locality factor | Adjusted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physician work | 1.88 | × 1.000 | 1.8800 |
| Practice expense | 4.35 | × 0.915 | 3.9802 |
| Malpractice | 0.16 | × 0.397 | 0.0635 |
| Total RVUs | 5.9238 | ||
| Conversion factor | × 33.4009 | ||
Office / nonfacility rate, Iowa$197.86
Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula
Office / nonfacility
| Component | RVU | Local GPCI |
|---|---|---|
| Work | 1.88 | 1 |
| Practice expense | 4.35 | 0.915 |
| Malpractice | 0.16 | 0.397 |
(1.88 × 1 + 4.35 × 0.915 + 0.16 × 0.397) × $33.4009 = $197.86
Facility
| Component | RVU | Local GPCI |
|---|---|---|
| Work | 1.88 | 1 |
| Practice expense | 0.33 | 0.915 |
| Malpractice | 0.16 | 0.397 |
(1.88 × 1 + 0.33 × 0.915 + 0.16 × 0.397) × $33.4009 = $75.00
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.
36555 billing questions
When should 36555 be used instead of 36556?
Use 36555 for a non-tunneled, centrally inserted central venous catheter in a patient younger than five. Code 36556 is the corresponding age-five-and-older code.
How is this different from a tunneled catheter insertion?
The catheter reported with 36555 is not tunneled beneath the skin. A tunneled central catheter in a child younger than five is reported with 36557.
Is a PICC reported with 36555?
No. A peripherally inserted central catheter is classified separately; 36568 is the PICC insertion code for a patient younger than five.
What documentation supports reporting 36555?
Document the patient’s age, the need for central venous access, the non-tunneled catheter, the insertion, and the access route.
Can an assistant or co-surgeon be reported for this service?
Medicare does not pay an assistant-at-surgery service for 36555. Co-surgeon and team-surgery reporting are 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.
4,50136514,,Apheresis plasma,A,,1.76,19.47,,0.42,,0.16,21.39,2.34,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
4,50236516,,Apheresis immunoads slctv,A,,1.52,64.83,,0.36,,0.35,66.70,2.23,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
4,50336522,,Photopheresis,A,,1.71,38.95,,0.50,,0.13,40.79,2.34,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,2,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
4,50436555,,Insert non-tunnel cv cath,A,,1.88,4.35,,0.33,,0.16,6.39,2.37,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
4,50536556,,Insert non-tunnel cv cath,A,,1.71,5.18,,0.38,,0.23,7.12,2.32,0,000,0.00,0.00,0.00,0,0,1,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
4,50636557,,Insert tunneled cv cath,A,,4.77,31.74,,3.18,,1.28,37.79,9.23,0,010,0.10,0.80,0.10,2,1,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
4,50736558,,Insert tunneled cv cath,A,,4.48,18.46,,1.84,,0.64,23.58,6.96,0,010,0.10,0.80,0.10,2,1,0,0,0,9,,33.4009,09,0,99,0.00,0.00,0.00
5006102,IL,15,SUBURBAN CHICAGO,1.007,1.027,1.772
5106102,IL,99,REST OF ILLINOIS,1.000,0.913,1.563
5208102,IN,00,INDIANA,1.000,0.927,0.486
5305102,IA,00,IOWA,1.000,0.915,0.397
5405202,KS,00,KANSAS,1.000,0.904,0.504
5515102,KY,00,KENTUCKY,1.000,0.889,0.915
5607202,LA,01,NEW ORLEANS,1.000,0.941,1.136