Home / Medicare fees / 33259

33259 Ablate atria w/bypass add-on

What 33259 is

CMS fee schedule short descriptor: Ablate atria w/bypass add-on.

Full CPT long descriptions are licensed by the American Medical Association and are not published on this site; the short descriptor above is the one CMS prints in its own fee schedule file. See About CPT.

Medicare payment for 33259 (CY2026)

Work RVUPractice expense RVUMalpractice RVUTotalMedicare rate
Non-facility (office)13.797.433.3624.58$820.99
Facility (hospital, ASC)13.797.433.3624.58$820.99

National rates: total RVUs x the CY2026 conversion factor of 33.4009 (non-QP), before geographic adjustment. Actual Medicare payment is 80% of the rate shown after the deductible; the patient or secondary payer owes the 20% coinsurance.


Status: Active - payable under the Physician Fee Schedule. Global period: Add-on code: global period of the primary procedure applies.

Advertisement

Medically Unlikely Edit (MUE)

Medicare caps 33259 at 1 unit per date of service for practitioner claims (MAI 2 - date of service edit (absolute): units above the MUE never pay), rationale: Anatomic Consideration. Units above the cap are denied unless the edit's adjudication rules allow an appeal with documentation.

Billed with 33259? These codes are bundled into it

33259 is a Column 1 code in 68 active NCCI PTP edits. When one of these Column 2 codes is reported on the same date of service, it is denied as bundled - unless the edit's modifier indicator is 1 and documentation supports a distinct service with an NCCI-associated modifier.

Column 2 codeShort descriptionModifier indicator
00537Anes cardiac ep procedures1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
0213TNjx paravert w/us cer/thor1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
0216TNjx paravert w/us lumb/sac1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
0632TPerq tcat us abltj nrv p-art1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
0708TId ca immntx prep & 1st njx1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
0709TId ca immntx each addl njx1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
0915TInsj perm ccm-d sys pg&eltrd0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
0916TInsj perm ccm-d sys pg only0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
0917TInsj perm ccm-d sys 1 lead0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
0918TInsj perm ccm-d sys dual ld0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
0923TRmvl&rplcmt perm ccm-d pg0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
0924TRpos prv ccm-d trnsvns eltrd0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
0925TRlcj skin pocket ccm-d pg0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
0926TPrgrmg dev eval ccm-d ip0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
0927TInterrog dev eval ccm-d ip0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
32551Insertion of chest tube1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
33210Insert electrd/pm cath sngl0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
33211Insert card electrodes dual0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
33268Excl laa opn oth px any meth0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
36000Place needle in vein1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
36010Place catheter in vein1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
36011Place catheter in vein1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
36012Place catheter in vein1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
36013Place catheter in artery1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
36014Place catheter in artery1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
36140Intro ndl icath upr/lxtr art1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
36160Establish access to aorta1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
36200Place catheter in aorta1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
36215Place catheter in artery1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
36216Place catheter in artery1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair

Showing 30 of 68 column 2 codes. Use the pair checker for any specific combination.

33259 is bundled into these codes

33259 appears as a Column 2 code in 19 active edits. Reported with one of these Column 1 codes on the same date of service, 33259 is the code that denies.

Column 1 codeShort descriptionModifier indicator
0571TInsj/rplcmt icds ss eltrd0Check pair
0572TInsertion ss dfb electrode0Check pair
0573TRemoval ss dfb electrode0Check pair
0574TRepos prev ss impl dfb eltrd0Check pair
0575TPrgrmg dev eval icds ss ip0Check pair
0576TInterrog dev eval icds ss ip0Check pair
0577TEphys eval icds ss0Check pair
0578TRem interrog dev icds phys0Check pair
0579TRem interrog dev icds tech0Check pair
0580TRmvl ss impl dfb pg only0Check pair
0695TBdy srf mpg pm/cvdfb tm impl1Check pair
33250Ablate heart dysrhythm focus0Check pair
33254Ablate atria lmtd1Check pair
33255Ablate atria w/o bypass ext1Check pair
33256Ablate atria w/bypass exten1Check pair

Data: CMS CY2026 Physician Fee Schedule RVU file (October release, RVU26D) and Medicare NCCI PTP practitioner edits v32.3 (2026 Q4). Verify against the official files before billing or contracting decisions.