Home / Medicare fees / 33977

33977 Remove ventricular device

What 33977 is

CMS fee schedule short descriptor: Remove ventricular device.

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 33977 (CY2026)

Work RVUPractice expense RVUMalpractice RVUTotalMedicare rate
Non-facility (office)20.345.714.9531.00$1,035.43
Facility (hospital, ASC)20.345.714.9531.00$1,035.43

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: Global concept does not apply.

Advertisement

Medically Unlikely Edit (MUE)

Medicare caps 33977 at 1 unit per date of service for practitioner claims (MAI 3 - date of service edit (clinical): units above the MUE may pay with documentation on appeal), rationale: Nature of Service/Procedure. Units above the cap are denied unless the edit's adjudication rules allow an appeal with documentation.

Billed with 33977? These codes are bundled into it

33977 is a Column 1 code in 156 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
0213TNjx paravert w/us cer/thor0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
0216TNjx paravert w/us lumb/sac0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
0596TTemp fml iu vlv-pmp 1st insj1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
0597TTemp fml iu valve-pmp rplcmt1 - 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
0903TEcg alg 12 lead reduced i&r1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
0904TEcg alg 12 ld rdcd trcg only1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
0905TEcg alg 12 ld rdcd i&r only1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
11000Dbrdmt ecz/infected skin<10%1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
11001Dbrdmt ecz/infct skn ea addl1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
11004Dbrdmt skin xtrnl gent&per1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
11005Dbrdmt skin abdominal wall1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
11006Dbrdmt skin xtrnl gent per1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
11042Dbrdmt subq tis 1st 20sqcm/<1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
11043Dbrdmt musc&/fsca 1st 20/<1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
11044Dbrdmt bone 1st 20 sq cm/<1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
11045Dbrdmt subq tiss each addl1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
11046Dbrdmt musc&/fsca ea addl1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
11047Dbrdmt bone each addl1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
32551Insertion of chest tube1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
32556Insert cath pleura w/o image1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
32557Insert cath pleura w/ image1 - modifier may bypassCheck pair
33210Insert electrd/pm cath sngl0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
33211Insert card electrodes dual0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
33254Ablate atria lmtd0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
33255Ablate atria w/o bypass ext0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
33256Ablate atria w/bypass exten0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair
33267Excl laa open any method0 - no modifier bypassCheck pair

Showing 30 of 156 column 2 codes. Use the pair checker for any specific combination.

33977 is bundled into these codes

33977 appears as a Column 2 code in 7 active edits. Reported with one of these Column 1 codes on the same date of service, 33977 is the code that denies.

Column 1 codeShort descriptionModifier indicator
33975Implant ventricular device0Check pair
33976Implant ventricular device0Check pair
33978Remove ventricular device1Check pair
33980Remove intracorporeal device1Check pair
33981Replace vad pump ext0Check pair
33982Replace vad intra w/o bp0Check pair
33983Replace vad intra w/bp0Check 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.