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Procedure price report · Other non-OR therapeutic procedures on skin and breast

Placement of a drug-releasing implant under the skin

CPT 11981the billing code this page is about

Insertion of a non-dissolving implant that releases medication over time beneath the skin; covers the insertion only, not the drug itself.

Hospitals typically charge $252 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,674 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $254. Most fall between $129 and $479 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,674
States
50
Filings dated
Mar 2023 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 24, 2026

Median: half of hospitals filed less, half more — and it is a price some hospital actually filed. Average of the middle 60%: the mean of the prices between the 20th and 80th percentiles. We never publish the plain average, the lowest or the highest price: the extremes in hospital price files are chargemaster artefacts, not prices anyone pays.

What hospitals charge, from cheapest to most expensive

Cash price percentiles, outpatient, across 1,674 hospitals. Each figure is a price a hospital filed. 10th: one in ten hospitals charges less; 25th: a quarter charge less; Median: half charge less; 75th: three quarters charge less; 90th: nine in ten charge less.
10th25thMedian75th90th
$88$143$252$381$1,015

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($88 vs $1,015).

How the prices are spread

$63 – $94: 101 hospitals$63$94 – $140: 215 hospitals$140 – $208: 303 hospitals$140$208 – $309: 391 hospitals$309 – $460: 241 hospitals$309$460 – $685: 110 hospitals$685 – $1,019: 64 hospitals$685$1,019 – $1,517: 45 hospitals$1,517 – $2,258: 30 hospitals$1,517$2,258 – $3,361: 9 hospitals$2,258median $252price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,509 of 1,674 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$63$94101
$94$140215
$140$208303
$208$309391
$309$460241
$460$685110
$685$1,01964
$1,019$1,51745
$1,517$2,25830
$2,258$3,3619

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$136
Median cash price$252
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.85×

The Medicare figure is the national unadjusted OPPS rate for this code — what Medicare itself pays a hospital before local wage adjustment. It is a benchmark, not a price anyone is charged.

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $252.

Alaska: median $307 across 12 hospitalsAK$307Maine: median $151 across 14 hospitalsME$151Vermont: median $191 across 12 hospitalsVT$191New Hampshire: median $105 across 14 hospitalsNH$105Washington: median $276 across 54 hospitalsWA$276Idaho: median $166 across 19 hospitalsID$166Montana: median $208 across 22 hospitalsMT$208North Dakota: median $219 across 12 hospitalsND$219Minnesota: median $242 across 57 hospitalsMN$242Illinois: median $265 across 55 hospitalsIL$265Wisconsin: median $248 across 82 hospitalsWI$248Michigan: median $136 across 67 hospitalsMI$136New York: median $267 across 93 hospitalsNY$267Massachusetts: median $460 across 31 hospitalsMA$460Oregon: median $184 across 46 hospitalsOR$184Nevada: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: median $308 across 18 hospitalsSD$308Iowa: median $253 across 69 hospitalsIA$253Indiana: median $381 across 46 hospitalsIN$381Ohio: median $253 across 90 hospitalsOH$253Pennsylvania: median $193 across 69 hospitalsPA$193New Jersey: median $172 across 44 hospitalsNJ$172Connecticut: median $320 across 13 hospitalsCT$320Rhode Island: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $284 across 89 hospitalsCA$284Utah: median $152 across 27 hospitalsUT$152Colorado: median $254 across 27 hospitalsCO$254Nebraska: median $235 across 46 hospitalsNE$235Missouri: median $272 across 37 hospitalsMO$272Kentucky: median $137 across 15 hospitalsKY$137West Virginia: median $173 across 28 hospitalsWV$173Virginia: median $565 across 33 hospitalsVA$565Maryland: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $196 across 45 hospitalsKS$196Arkansas: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $120 across 19 hospitalsTN$120North Carolina: median $127 across 47 hospitalsNC$127South Carolina: median $283 across 32 hospitalsSC$283Oklahoma: median $119 across 21 hospitalsOK$119Louisiana: median $99 across 25 hospitalsLA$99Mississippi: median $154 across 12 hospitalsMS$154Alabama: median $280 across 16 hospitalsAL$280Georgia: median $490 across 45 hospitalsGA$490Hawaii: median $239 across 10 hospitalsHI$239Texas: median $240 across 65 hospitalsTX$240Florida: median $297 across 38 hospitalsFL$297
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $252. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Virginia VA33$565+124%$124 – $919
Georgia GA45$490+95%$300 – $3,895
Massachusetts MA31$460+83%$283 – $669
Indiana IN46$381+52%$134 – $1,883
Connecticut CT13$320+27%$249 – $335
South Dakota SD18$308+22%$237 – $453
Alaska AK12$307+22%$203 – $589
Florida FL38$297+18%$141 – $735
California CA89$284+13%$203 – $393
South Carolina SC32$283+12%$208 – $325
Alabama AL16$280+11%$81 – $11,089
Washington WA54$276+10%$141 – $595
Missouri MO37$272+8%$136 – $1,510
New York NY93$267+6%$142 – $650
Illinois IL55$265+5%$134 – $424
Colorado CO27$254+1%$141 – $338
Ohio OH90$253+1%$150 – $1,162
Iowa IA69$2530%$150 – $363
Wisconsin WI82$248−1%$173 – $324
Minnesota MN57$242−4%$140 – $505
Texas TX65$240−5%$130 – $637
Hawaii HI10$239−5%$119 – $244
Nebraska NE46$235−7%$178 – $334
North Dakota ND12$219−13%$133 – $310
Montana MT22$208−17%$100 – $312
Kansas KS45$196−22%$127 – $288
Pennsylvania PA69$193−23%$93 – $258
Vermont VT12$191−24%$80 – $384
Oregon OR46$184−27%$125 – $354
West Virginia WV28$173−31%$147 – $288
New Jersey NJ44$172−32%$143 – $4,627
Idaho ID19$166−34%$76 – $360
Mississippi MS12$154−39%$100 – $618
Utah UT27$152−40%$130 – $163
Maine ME14$151−40%$83 – $256
Kentucky KY15$137−46%$121 – $222
Michigan MI67$136−46%$76 – $250
North Carolina NC47$127−49%$76 – $286
Tennessee TN19$120−52%$55 – $224
Oklahoma OK21$119−53%$119 – $281
New Hampshire NH14$105−58%$72 – $277
Louisiana LA25$99−61%$52 – $308
Arkansas AR9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price

Hospitals like yours

The same distribution cut by the kind of hospital. Hospital type and ownership come from CMS; a hospital counts as part of a system when its price file is shared with at least one other hospital under the same brand. The national median is $252.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,132$254$128 – $565
Children’s38$344$157 – $621
Critical access499$230$129 – $357
Ownership
For-profit107$300$134 – $1,559
Government363$243$135 – $378
Non-profit1,199$252$127 – $509
System affiliation
Part of a system1,320$254$131 – $511
Independent354$209$120 – $395

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$358
Median cash price$252
Cash as a share of list, median hospital65%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 35%. The share is the median of each hospital’s own cash ÷ list ratio, over hospitals that filed both — not the ratio of the two medians above.

The same procedure, inpatient

1,093 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $254 and the average of the middle 60% is $257; most fall between $128 and $478.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,093 hospitals. Each figure is a price a hospital filed. 10th: one in ten hospitals charges less; 25th: a quarter charge less; Median: half charge less; 75th: three quarters charge less; 90th: nine in ten charge less.
10th25thMedian75th90th
$95$143$254$381$827

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.7× what the cheapest tenth charges ($95 vs $827).

Of the 1,178 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,093 gave a usable cash price; 28 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 57 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,674 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (42%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,805 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,674
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here66
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded5
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded60
Hospitals that filed this code1,805

Sections not shown for this setting

  • Since our last snapshot: there is no earlier snapshot at least 90 days older than this one yet.

We last checked these hospitals’ price files for changes between September 4, 2026 and September 24, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 24, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Related procedures

Part of the Other non-OR therapeutic procedures on skin and breast family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Insertion Drug Delivery Implant.

Method

Source
The machine-readable price files every U.S. hospital is required by CMS to publish, parsed per hospital. Nothing is surveyed, sampled or modelled.
What counts
One cash (self-pay) price per hospital for this code and setting. A hospital’s own filing can rule its number out — a placeholder, a “not applicable” note, a list price standing in for cash — and our plausibility checks can flag a price far below what every other hospital files. Both kinds are disclosed above and excluded from the statistics; on the compare tool a flagged price is still shown.
Statistics
Percentiles are discrete: each is a price some hospital filed. The average is the mean of the prices between the 20th and 80th percentiles. We never publish the plain mean, the minimum or the maximum. A state needs 10 hospitals and a segment 20 to show a figure; otherwise the row shows its count and no number. Medicare is the national unadjusted OPPS rate where one exists.
Names
Procedure names on these pages are our own plain-language titles, not the AMA’s copyrighted CPT descriptors. The code is the identity.

The full rules — sources, statistics, thresholds, limitations — are on the methodology page.

Download this page’s figures: JSON · CSV. Aggregates only — the per-hospital prices are on the compare tool.

Cite: HospitalRates.com, “Placement of a drug-releasing implant under the skin (CPT 11981) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-11981-placement-of-a-drug-releasing-implant-under-the-skin