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Starting Vein-To-Vein ECMO Life Support

Alabama rates for HCPCS 33946

Covers the physician work of setting up and starting an external machine that draws blood from a vein, adds oxygen and removes carbon dioxide, then returns the blood to a vein. This form supports failing lungs while the patient's own heart continues to do the pumping. It covers getting the support running, not the day-to-day management afterwards.

Rates data updated October 2026.

How much does Starting Vein-To-Vein ECMO Life Support cost?

$1,268

Typical total for the visit. In Alabama, October 2026.

Insurers have agreed to pay about $1,268 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $417 to the doctor who performs it, and $851 to the hospital or surgery center where it takes place. Done somewhere without a facility charge, you pay only the first.

These are rates insurers have negotiated with providers, not the amount a patient is billed. What you owe depends on your plan's deductible and coinsurance. Based on rates published by 4 insurance carriers under federal price transparency rules.

What's inside this number

Part of the billTypicalRange
Physician feeThe doctor who performs it$417$339 to $550
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$851$550 to $1,905

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $851 · 10th to 90th $372 to $3,467Professionalmedian $417 · 10th to 90th $295 to $550
$100$200$500$1K$2K$5Kfacility $851professional $417

Distribution of negotiated rates across all payers (price axis is log-scale). Need provider-level prices or 24+ months of history? Contact us.

Rates by insurance carrier

Insurance Carrier
Aetna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$776.25
Median
$1,258.93
Typical High
$2,630.27
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$549.54
Median
$549.54
Typical High
$549.54
BCBS Alabama
Setting
Professional
Modifier
21 + 22 · Increased work + 24 · Unrelated visit after surgery
Typical Low
$239.88
Median
$331.13
Typical High
$436.52
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$446.68
Median
$549.54
Typical High
$1,202.26
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$354.81
Median
$416.87
Typical High
$537.03
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$371.54
Median
$954.99
Typical High
$3,801.89
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$239.88
Median
$338.84
Typical High
$457.09
5 more rates with less common billing modifiers

A modifier changes what was billed, for example a reduced or repeated service. Each of these modifiers carries under 10% of the published rates for this code. Modifier combinations, and modifiers with fewer than 30 rates for a carrier, are not listed.

Insurance Carrier
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
52 · Reduced service
Typical Low
$275.42
Median
$275.42
Typical High
$275.42
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
53 · Discontinued
Typical Low
$109.65
Median
$109.65
Typical High
$109.65
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$407.38
Median
$407.38
Typical High
$407.38
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
55 · Aftercare only
Typical Low
$83.18
Median
$83.18
Typical High
$83.18
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
56 · Pre-op care only
Typical Low
$54.95
Median
$54.95
Typical High
$54.95

Where Alabama sits

The same service costs 6.1 times more in Alaska than in Maryland. Every bar is a state, most expensive first. Touch or drag across it to read any state, then open that state for its carriers and full range.

Physician feeFacility fee

Alabama· 37th of 51

$1,268

$417 physician + $851 facility

AK $5,496MD $901

Median negotiated rate in each state, from every insurer that publishes one. States where no insurer publishes a rate for this service are not shown.