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Procedure price report · Excision of skin lesion

Destruction of skin cancer on trunk, arm or leg, over 4 cm

CPT 17266the billing code this page is about

Destroys a single malignant skin lesion larger than 4.0 cm on the trunk, arms, or legs using freezing, burning, laser, or chemicals.

Hospitals typically charge $454 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 645 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $481. Most fall between $254 and $860 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
645
States
48
Filings dated
Jan 2024 – 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 645 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
$184$284$454$767$1,166

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.3× what the cheapest tenth charges ($184 vs $1,166).

How the prices are spread

$139 – $176: 27 hospitals$139$176 – $222: 36 hospitals$222 – $280: 63 hospitals$222$280 – $354: 52 hospitals$354 – $447: 103 hospitals$354$447 – $565: 97 hospitals$565 – $714: 65 hospitals$565$714 – $902: 47 hospitals$902 – $1,140: 44 hospitals$902$1,140 – $1,440: 47 hospitals$1,140median $454price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (581 of 645 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$139$17627
$176$22236
$222$28063
$280$35452
$354$447103
$447$56597
$565$71465
$714$90247
$902$1,14044
$1,140$1,44047

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$415
Median cash price$454
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.09×

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 $454.

Alaska: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $471 across 16 hospitalsWA$471Idaho: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $436 across 20 hospitalsMN$436Illinois: median $399 across 24 hospitalsIL$399Wisconsin: median $429 across 45 hospitalsWI$429Michigan: median $196 across 26 hospitalsMI$196New York: median $473 across 39 hospitalsNY$473Massachusetts: median $760 across 11 hospitalsMA$760Oregon: median $430 across 13 hospitalsOR$430Nevada: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $578 across 23 hospitalsIA$578Indiana: median $597 across 20 hospitalsIN$597Ohio: median $689 across 32 hospitalsOH$689Pennsylvania: median $468 across 28 hospitalsPA$468New Jersey: median $1,363 across 26 hospitalsNJ$1,363Connecticut: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $1,210 across 30 hospitalsCA$1,210Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $500 across 13 hospitalsCO$500Nebraska: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: median $366 across 22 hospitalsMO$366Kentucky: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: median $379 across 18 hospitalsWV$379Virginia: median $365 across 20 hospitalsVA$365Maryland: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $225 across 10 hospitalsKS$225Arkansas: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $182 across 11 hospitalsTN$182North Carolina: median $454 across 20 hospitalsNC$454South Carolina: median $798 across 11 hospitalsSC$798Oklahoma: median $252 across 13 hospitalsOK$252Louisiana: median $234 across 15 hospitalsLA$234Mississippi: median $290 across 10 hospitalsMS$290Alabama: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $615 across 26 hospitalsTX$615Florida: median $888 across 17 hospitalsFL$888
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $454. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
New Jersey NJ26$1,363+200%$443 – $5,339
California CA30$1,210+166%$656 – $1,210
Florida FL17$888+96%$368 – $1,147
South Carolina SC11$798+76%$520 – $798
Massachusetts MA11$760+67%$258 – $1,844
Ohio OH32$689+52%$254 – $955
Texas TX26$615+35%$472 – $767
Indiana IN20$597+31%$251 – $755
Iowa IA23$578+27%$355 – $578
Colorado CO13$500+10%$298 – $3,587
New York NY39$473+4%$397 – $954
Washington WA16$471+4%$430 – $565
Pennsylvania PA28$468+3%$99 – $817
North Carolina NC20$4540%$215 – $454
Minnesota MN20$436−4%$291 – $913
Oregon OR13$430−5%$430 – $591
Wisconsin WI45$429−6%$412 – $541
Illinois IL24$399−12%$255 – $578
West Virginia WV18$379−17%$158 – $607
Missouri MO22$366−19%$161 – $570
Virginia VA20$365−20%$155 – $1,153
Mississippi MS10$290−36%$256 – $490
Oklahoma OK13$252−44%$252 – $252
Louisiana LA15$234−48%$120 – $392
Kansas KS10$225−50%$166 – $329
Michigan MI26$196−57%$196 – $429
Tennessee TN11$182−60%$135 – $340
Nebraska NE9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Georgia GA1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT1not 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 $454.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care477$468$252 – $913
Children’s6fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access160$429$255 – $778
Ownership
For-profit30$356$255 – $767
Government121$436$258 – $499
Non-profit492$473$252 – $937
System affiliation
Part of a system522$462$254 – $920
Independent123$404$250 – $599

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$728
Median cash price$454
Cash as a share of list, median hospital61%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 39%. 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

382 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $454 and the average of the middle 60% is $517; most fall between $267 and $955.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 382 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
$217$312$454$835$1,210

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 5.6× what the cheapest tenth charges ($217 vs $1,210).

Of the 410 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 382 gave a usable cash price; 14 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 14 a list price only.

How complete is this

645 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (16%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 689 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted645
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here30
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded13
Hospitals that filed this code689

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 Excision of skin lesion family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as PR Destr Malig Trunk,Extrem >4.0 Cm.

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, “Destruction of skin cancer on trunk, arm or leg, over 4 cm (CPT 17266) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-17266-destruction-of-skin-cancer-on-trunk-arm-or-leg-over-4-cm