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Placement Of A Heart Vent During Life Support

New Jersey rates for HCPCS 33988

Places a small drainage tube into the left side of the heart through an incision in the chest, in a patient being supported by an external heart-lung machine. The tube lets blood drain out of the left side of the heart so that chamber does not become overfilled and stretched while the machine is doing the work of circulating blood. It is done in an operating room or intensive care setting as part of the support system, not as a repair of the heart itself.

Rates data updated October 2026.

How much does Placement Of A Heart Vent During Life Support cost?

$871

Typical negotiated rate. In New Jersey, October 2026.

Insurers have agreed to pay about $871 for this service. The price depends on where it is billed: about $832 from a physician practice, and about $1,862 from a hospital or other facility.

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 5 insurance carriers under federal price transparency rules.

Prices by location type

Billed byTypicalRange
Physician practiceA doctor's office, clinic or independent provider$832$741 to $1,047
FacilityA hospital or hospital-owned outpatient department$1,862$871 to $4,266

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $1,862 · 10th to 90th $380 to $8,511Professionalmedian $832 · 10th to 90th $724 to $2,089
$200$500$1K$2K$5K$10Kfacility $1,862professional $832

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
$4,365.16
Median
$6,918.31
Typical High
$13,803.84
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$812.83
Median
$831.76
Typical High
$912.01
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,023.29
Median
$2,137.96
Typical High
$2,818.38
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$741.31
Median
$851.14
Typical High
$2,089.30
Emblem Health
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$794.33
Median
$1,122.02
Typical High
$1,148.15
Horizon BCBS
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$724.44
Median
$870.96
Typical High
$2,238.72
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$331.13
Median
$1,479.11
Typical High
$5,495.41
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$691.83
Median
$870.96
Typical High
$2,290.87
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
$416.87
Median
$416.87
Typical High
$436.52
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
53 · Discontinued
Typical Low
$165.96
Median
$165.96
Typical High
$173.78
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$630.96
Median
$630.96
Typical High
$660.69
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
55 · Aftercare only
Typical Low
$125.89
Median
$125.89
Typical High
$131.83
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
56 · Pre-op care only
Typical Low
$83.18
Median
$83.18
Typical High
$87.10

Where New Jersey sits

The same service costs 3.8 times more in Wisconsin than in New York. 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.

New Jersey· 48th of 51

$871

WI $3,090NY $813

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.