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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01

33990 VAD insertion Medicare reimbursement rates in Rhode Island

Reports percutaneous placement of a temporary left-heart assist device through arterial access, such as for cardiogenic shock or support during high-risk PCI. Compare 33990 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Rhode Island.

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 33990 in Rhode Island?

Rhode Island 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

$313.01

1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.

Payment area: Rhode Island

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 33990 in your payment locality →

Cardiac surgery

About 33990: Percutaneous left ventricular assist device insertion

Reports percutaneous placement of a temporary left-heart assist device through arterial access, such as for cardiogenic shock or support during high-risk PCI.

This service places a temporary percutaneous ventricular assist device in the left heart through arterial access, commonly the femoral artery, with the device positioned to support systemic circulation. Interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons perform it in a catheterization laboratory or other hospital setting, often for cardiogenic shock or hemodynamic support during high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention. Imaging supervision and interpretation for device placement are part of the service.

Report 33990 when the left-heart device is inserted using arterial access only; documentation should establish the access route, device placement, clinical indication, and imaging used to guide placement. The code has a 0-day global period, so same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included. When multiple procedures occur in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures are subject to the standard 50% multiple-procedure reduction. Assistant-at-surgery payment may be made; co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.

CMS billing rules for 33990

Global period
Minor procedure with a 0-day global period: same-day preoperative and postoperative care is 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 RVU6.58 · 70%
  • Practice expense (office) RVU1.26 · 13%
  • Malpractice RVU1.53 · 16%

7.9K

Medicare services in 2024 · #1597 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.

33990 compared with similar codes

Office rates for Rhode Island, from the same CMS release.

33991

VAD insertion

Left heart, arterial and venous access

No office rate

33990 is for arterial access only. Choose 33991 when both arterial and venous access are used for the left-heart device insertion.

33995

VAD insertion

Percutaneous, right heart

No office rate

33995 describes percutaneous right-heart assist-device insertion through venous access; 33990 is for left-heart support through arterial access.

33992

VAD removal

Percutaneous left-heart device

No office rate

33992 describes removal of a percutaneous left-heart assist device, not its insertion.

33988

Left heart vent

Insertion

No office rate

33988 describes insertion of a left-heart vent by a surgical approach; 33990 is percutaneous assist-device insertion through arterial access.

Compare 33990 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 33990 in Rhode Island.

PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv

4,174

Code
33990
Physician work
6.58
Practice expense
1.26
Malpractice
1.53

GPCI2026.csv

92

Locality
Rhode Island
Physician work
1.019
Practice expense
1.033
Malpractice
0.892
Facility calculation for 33990 in Rhode Island
ComponentRVULocality factorAdjusted
Physician work6.58× 1.0196.7050
Practice expense1.26× 1.0331.3016
Malpractice1.53× 0.8921.3648
Total RVUs9.3714
Conversion factor× 33.4009

Facility rate, Rhode Island$313.01

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
Work6.581.019
Practice expense1.261.033
Malpractice1.530.892

(6.58 × 1.019 + 1.26 × 1.033 + 1.53 × 0.892) × $33.4009 = $313.01

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.

33990 billing questions

How does 33990 differ from 33991?

Use 33990 for left-heart device insertion with arterial access only. Use 33991 when insertion requires both arterial and venous access.

Is imaging reported separately?

Imaging supervision and interpretation for device placement are included in this service.

What documentation supports 33990?

Document the indication, arterial access, device placement in the left heart, and imaging used to guide the procedure.

Can an assistant surgeon be reported?

Assistant-at-surgery payment may be made for this code. Co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.

How does the 0-day global affect same-day care?

Same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included in the procedure's 0-day global period.

How is 33990 affected when other procedures occur in the same session?

The highest-valued procedure is paid in full, and other procedures are subject to the standard multiple-procedure 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 33990PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv, line 4,174 (RVU26D)
Geographic factors for Rhode IslandGPCI2026.csv, line 92 (RVU26D)