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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01

33852 Aortic arch repair Medicare reimbursement rates in Kentucky

Open repair of an underdeveloped aortic arch performed without cardiopulmonary bypass, reported when the operative approach and bypass status match this service. Compare 33852 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Kentucky.

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 33852 in Kentucky?

Kentucky 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

$1276.43

1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.

Payment area: Kentucky

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 33852 in your payment locality →

Cardiothoracic surgery

About 33852: Hypoplastic aortic arch repair without bypass

Open repair of an underdeveloped aortic arch performed without cardiopulmonary bypass, reported when the operative approach and bypass status match this service.

This service addresses an underdeveloped, narrowed aortic arch, often in a patient with congenital heart disease such as coarctation. A cardiothoracic surgeon performs the open repair without cardiopulmonary bypass. The operative report should establish that the arch hypoplasia was repaired and describe the operative approach and whether bypass was used; the diagnosis alone does not distinguish this code from its bypass counterpart.

Report this code for the repair without bypass, rather than the related arch-repair code for a procedure performed with bypass. CMS assigns a 90-day global period, including the day before surgery 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 the others are subject to a 50% reduction. Modifier 50 is inappropriate for this service. An assistant at surgery may be paid; co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted under the listed CMS rules.

CMS billing rules for 33852

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 not permitted.
Team surgery
Team surgery not permitted.

Where the value comes from

  • Work RVU23.80 · 60%
  • Practice expense (office) RVU10.04 · 25%
  • Malpractice RVU6.00 · 15%

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.

33852 compared with similar codes

Office rates for Kentucky, from the same CMS release.

33853

Aortic arch repair

With bypass

No office rate

Use 33853 when the hypoplastic arch repair is performed with cardiopulmonary bypass. This code identifies the repair performed without bypass.

33840

Coarctation repair

Direct anastomosis

No office rate

33840 describes coarctation excision with direct anastomosis. Choose based on the operative service documented, not simply the presence of a narrowed aorta.

33845

Coarctation repair

Graft reconstruction

No office rate

33845 is for coarctation excision with graft. It differs from repair of an underdeveloped arch without bypass.

33871

Aortic arch graft

Transverse arch, hypothermic arrest

No office rate

33871 describes transverse aortic arch grafting with hypothermic circulatory arrest, not the hypoplastic arch repair without bypass represented here.

Compare 33852 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 33852 in Kentucky.

PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv

4,088

Code
33852
Physician work
23.80
Practice expense
10.04
Malpractice
6.00

GPCI2026.csv

55

Locality
Kentucky
Physician work
1.000
Practice expense
0.889
Malpractice
0.915
Facility calculation for 33852 in Kentucky
ComponentRVULocality factorAdjusted
Physician work23.80× 1.00023.8000
Practice expense10.04× 0.8898.9256
Malpractice6.00× 0.9155.4900
Total RVUs38.2156
Conversion factor× 33.4009

Facility rate, Kentucky$1276.43

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
Work23.81
Practice expense10.040.889
Malpractice60.915

(23.8 × 1 + 10.04 × 0.889 + 6 × 0.915) × $33.4009 = $1276.43

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.

33852 billing questions

How does this code differ from 33853?

The distinction is whether cardiopulmonary bypass is used for the hypoplastic arch repair. This code is for repair without bypass; 33853 is the corresponding repair with bypass.

What operative documentation supports this code?

The operative report should identify the hypoplastic aortic arch repair and document that cardiopulmonary bypass was not used. Include the operative findings and repair performed.

Can modifier 50 be reported?

No. CMS identifies bilateral adjustment as inappropriate for this service.

Can an assistant or co-surgeon be reported?

An assistant at surgery may be paid under the listed CMS rule. Co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.

How does the 90-day global period affect postoperative billing?

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

What happens when another procedure is performed in the same session?

CMS applies the standard multiple procedure reduction: the highest-valued procedure is paid in full, and the other procedures are subject to a 50% reduction.

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 33852PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv, line 4,088 (RVU26D)
Geographic factors for KentuckyGPCI2026.csv, line 55 (RVU26D)
Open CMS sourceHow this rate is calculatedBuild a fee sheet