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Procedure price report · Excision of skin lesion

Destruction of skin cancer on face, ear or lip, 0.6 to 1 cm

CPT 17281the billing code this page is about

Destroys a single malignant skin lesion measuring 0.6 to 1.0 cm on the face, ears, eyelids, nose, lips, or mouth lining using freezing, burning, laser, or chemicals.

Hospitals typically charge $326 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 851 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $337. Most fall between $180 and $596 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
851
States
48
Filings dated
Aug 2022 – 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 851 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
$124$200$326$520$862

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.0× what the cheapest tenth charges ($124 vs $862).

How the prices are spread

$91 – $117: 35 hospitals$91$117 – $150: 46 hospitals$150 – $192: 61 hospitals$150$192 – $246: 127 hospitals$246 – $316: 103 hospitals$246$316 – $405: 118 hospitals$405 – $519: 106 hospitals$405$519 – $665: 94 hospitals$665 – $852: 33 hospitals$665$852 – $1,092: 44 hospitals$852median $326price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (767 of 851 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$91$11735
$117$15046
$150$19261
$192$246127
$246$316103
$316$405118
$405$519106
$519$66594
$665$85233
$852$1,09244

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$205
Median cash price$326
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.59×

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 $326.

Alaska: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $234 across 11 hospitalsME$234Vermont: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $387 across 21 hospitalsWA$387Idaho: median $356 across 13 hospitalsID$356Montana: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $306 across 32 hospitalsMN$306Illinois: median $378 across 27 hospitalsIL$378Wisconsin: median $417 across 50 hospitalsWI$417Michigan: median $213 across 35 hospitalsMI$213New York: median $238 across 43 hospitalsNY$238Massachusetts: median $401 across 14 hospitalsMA$401Oregon: median $329 across 22 hospitalsOR$329Nevada: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: median $498 across 13 hospitalsSD$498Iowa: median $320 across 38 hospitalsIA$320Indiana: median $571 across 24 hospitalsIN$571Ohio: median $290 across 25 hospitalsOH$290Pennsylvania: median $237 across 38 hospitalsPA$237New Jersey: median $579 across 26 hospitalsNJ$579Connecticut: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $1,092 across 37 hospitalsCA$1,092Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $328 across 17 hospitalsCO$328Nebraska: median $314 across 23 hospitalsNE$314Missouri: median $245 across 23 hospitalsMO$245Kentucky: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: median $231 across 23 hospitalsWV$231Virginia: median $602 across 23 hospitalsVA$602Maryland: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 5 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 $223 across 28 hospitalsKS$223Arkansas: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $139 across 11 hospitalsTN$139North Carolina: median $363 across 16 hospitalsNC$363South Carolina: median $382 across 17 hospitalsSC$382Oklahoma: median $195 across 15 hospitalsOK$195Louisiana: median $219 across 18 hospitalsLA$219Mississippi: median $201 across 16 hospitalsMS$201Alabama: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $1,773 across 12 hospitalsGA$1,773Hawaii: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $564 across 31 hospitalsTX$564Florida: median $615 across 27 hospitalsFL$615
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $326. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Georgia GA12$1,773+443%$1,773 – $1,773
California CA37$1,092+235%$422 – $1,092
Florida FL27$615+88%$199 – $888
Virginia VA23$602+84%$79 – $663
New Jersey NJ26$579+78%$220 – $5,339
Indiana IN24$571+75%$191 – $840
Texas TX31$564+73%$221 – $609
South Dakota SD13$498+52%$377 – $498
Wisconsin WI50$417+28%$314 – $426
Massachusetts MA14$401+23%$198 – $1,143
Washington WA21$387+19%$329 – $565
South Carolina SC17$382+17%$382 – $798
Illinois IL27$378+16%$175 – $642
North Carolina NC16$363+11%$230 – $363
Idaho ID13$356+9%$200 – $556
Oregon OR22$329+1%$144 – $429
Colorado CO17$328+1%$174 – $374
Iowa IA38$320−2%$220 – $440
Nebraska NE23$314−4%$173 – $415
Minnesota MN32$306−6%$214 – $611
Ohio OH25$290−11%$193 – $434
Missouri MO23$245−25%$94 – $291
New York NY43$238−27%$205 – $636
Pennsylvania PA38$237−27%$80 – $375
Maine ME11$234−28%$141 – $362
West Virginia WV23$231−29%$122 – $505
Kansas KS28$223−32%$123 – $344
Louisiana LA18$219−33%$158 – $460
Michigan MI35$213−35%$105 – $320
Mississippi MS16$201−38%$128 – $490
Oklahoma OK15$195−40%$158 – $195
Tennessee TN11$139−57%$92 – $180
Kentucky KY9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not 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 $326.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care562$336$193 – $642
Children’s9fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access279$279$164 – $470
Ownership
For-profit42$320$175 – $579
Government196$284$164 – $415
Non-profit612$336$193 – $623
System affiliation
Part of a system680$329$182 – $611
Independent171$287$176 – $487

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$477
Median cash price$326
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

501 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $338 and the average of the middle 60% is $357; most fall between $193 and $609.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 501 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
$146$211$338$556$1,035

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.1× what the cheapest tenth charges ($146 vs $1,035).

Of the 549 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 501 gave a usable cash price; 27 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 21 a list price only.

How complete is this

851 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (22%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 927 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted851
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here55
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 — excluded20
Hospitals that filed this code927

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 Destruction Mal Lesion F/E/E/N/L/M 0.6-1.0cm.

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 face, ear or lip, 0.6 to 1 cm (CPT 17281) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-17281-destruction-of-skin-cancer-on-face-ear-or-lip-0-6-to-1-cm