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Procedure price report · Breast biopsy and other diagnostic procedures on breast

Needle drainage of a breast cyst, first cyst

CPT 19000the billing code this page is about

Fluid is drawn out of a cyst in the breast through a needle; this code covers the first cyst treated during the visit.

Hospitals typically charge $666 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,477 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $687. Most fall between $261 and $1,254 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,477
States
50
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 2,477 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
$152$322$666$1,104$1,783

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($152 vs $1,783).

How the prices are spread

$103 – $141: 97 hospitals$103$141 – $193: 121 hospitals$193 – $265: 161 hospitals$193$265 – $362: 189 hospitals$362 – $496: 239 hospitals$362$496 – $678: 330 hospitals$678 – $928: 401 hospitals$678$928 – $1,271: 330 hospitals$1,271 – $1,739: 221 hospitals$1,271$1,739 – $2,380: 142 hospitals$1,739median $666price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,231 of 2,477 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$103$14197
$141$193121
$193$265161
$265$362189
$362$496239
$496$678330
$678$928401
$928$1,271330
$1,271$1,739221
$1,739$2,380142

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$723
Median cash price$666
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.92×

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 $666.

Alaska: median $635 across 14 hospitalsAK$635Maine: median $392 across 22 hospitalsME$392Vermont: median $226 across 12 hospitalsVT$226New Hampshire: median $307 across 17 hospitalsNH$307Washington: median $790 across 59 hospitalsWA$790Idaho: median $700 across 18 hospitalsID$700Montana: median $191 across 23 hospitalsMT$191North Dakota: median $351 across 15 hospitalsND$351Minnesota: median $444 across 76 hospitalsMN$444Illinois: median $665 across 110 hospitalsIL$665Wisconsin: median $430 across 92 hospitalsWI$430Michigan: median $630 across 84 hospitalsMI$630New York: median $833 across 82 hospitalsNY$833Massachusetts: median $1,054 across 45 hospitalsMA$1,054Oregon: median $217 across 49 hospitalsOR$217Nevada: median $332 across 18 hospitalsNV$332Wyoming: median $333 across 13 hospitalsWY$333South Dakota: median $928 across 17 hospitalsSD$928Iowa: median $440 across 61 hospitalsIA$440Indiana: median $575 across 79 hospitalsIN$575Ohio: median $790 across 126 hospitalsOH$790Pennsylvania: median $817 across 100 hospitalsPA$817New Jersey: median $939 across 55 hospitalsNJ$939Connecticut: median $1,464 across 19 hospitalsCT$1,464Rhode Island: median $1,206 across 10 hospitalsRI$1,206California: median $1,295 across 164 hospitalsCA$1,295Utah: median $731 across 31 hospitalsUT$731Colorado: median $603 across 59 hospitalsCO$603Nebraska: median $328 across 52 hospitalsNE$328Missouri: median $589 across 56 hospitalsMO$589Kentucky: median $753 across 31 hospitalsKY$753West Virginia: median $822 across 31 hospitalsWV$822Virginia: median $552 across 48 hospitalsVA$552Maryland: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $375 across 39 hospitalsAZ$375New Mexico: median $789 across 15 hospitalsNM$789Kansas: median $340 across 52 hospitalsKS$340Arkansas: median $463 across 17 hospitalsAR$463Tennessee: median $282 across 48 hospitalsTN$282North Carolina: median $424 across 70 hospitalsNC$424South Carolina: median $1,154 across 41 hospitalsSC$1,154Oklahoma: median $460 across 44 hospitalsOK$460Louisiana: median $372 across 40 hospitalsLA$372Mississippi: median $402 across 42 hospitalsMS$402Alabama: median $889 across 33 hospitalsAL$889Georgia: median $654 across 78 hospitalsGA$654Hawaii: median $1,037 across 13 hospitalsHI$1,037Texas: median $956 across 149 hospitalsTX$956Florida: median $1,044 across 97 hospitalsFL$1,044
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $666. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Connecticut CT19$1,464+120%$757 – $2,527
California CA164$1,295+94%$534 – $1,878
Rhode Island RI10$1,206+81%$299 – $2,700
South Carolina SC41$1,154+73%$552 – $2,216
Massachusetts MA45$1,054+58%$585 – $1,414
Florida FL97$1,044+57%$281 – $2,257
Hawaii HI13$1,037+56%$109 – $1,133
Texas TX149$956+44%$597 – $1,188
New Jersey NJ55$939+41%$779 – $4,071
South Dakota SD17$928+39%$501 – $1,673
Alabama AL33$889+33%$413 – $2,555
New York NY82$833+25%$153 – $1,550
West Virginia WV31$822+23%$507 – $1,409
Pennsylvania PA100$817+23%$489 – $1,358
Washington WA59$790+19%$213 – $1,056
Ohio OH126$790+19%$542 – $1,372
New Mexico NM15$789+18%$171 – $1,488
Kentucky KY31$753+13%$274 – $1,220
Utah UT31$731+10%$700 – $824
Idaho ID18$700+5%$239 – $1,783
Illinois IL110$6650%$263 – $1,137
Georgia GA78$654−2%$464 – $1,695
Alaska AK14$635−5%$492 – $1,265
Michigan MI84$630−5%$86 – $974
Colorado CO59$603−9%$314 – $894
Missouri MO56$589−12%$216 – $1,155
Indiana IN79$575−14%$159 – $1,089
Virginia VA48$552−17%$425 – $1,045
Arkansas AR17$463−30%$180 – $501
Oklahoma OK44$460−31%$306 – $810
Minnesota MN76$444−33%$148 – $702
Iowa IA61$440−34%$142 – $765
Wisconsin WI92$430−35%$201 – $776
North Carolina NC70$424−36%$352 – $832
Mississippi MS42$402−40%$243 – $653
Maine ME22$392−41%$219 – $872
Arizona AZ39$375−44%$276 – $3,252
Louisiana LA40$372−44%$210 – $1,041
North Dakota ND15$351−47%$101 – $853
Kansas KS52$340−49%$191 – $669
Wyoming WY13$333−50%$136 – $402
Nevada NV18$332−50%$202 – $1,594
Nebraska NE52$328−51%$211 – $687
New Hampshire NH17$307−54%$53 – $862
Tennessee TN48$282−58%$190 – $690
Vermont VT12$226−66%$144 – $1,124
Oregon OR49$217−67%$108 – $882
Montana MT23$191−71%$106 – $527
Delaware DE6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD5not 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 $666.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,878$767$347 – $1,372
Children’s33$665$379 – $1,601
Critical access557$356$146 – $850
Ownership
For-profit230$851$357 – $1,769
Government444$442$170 – $968
Non-profit1,794$697$282 – $1,269
System affiliation
Part of a system2,027$700$301 – $1,295
Independent450$476$143 – $981

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$1,121
Median cash price$666
Cash as a share of list, median hospital60%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 40%. 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

1,843 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $700 and the average of the middle 60% is $751; most fall between $310 and $1,372.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,843 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
$177$371$700$1,163$1,859

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($177 vs $1,859).

Of the 1,974 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,843 gave a usable cash price; 39 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 92 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,477 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (63%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 2,675 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,477
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here89
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded6
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded103
Hospitals that filed this code2,675

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 Breast biopsy and other diagnostic procedures on breast family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as HC Breast Cyst Asp Initial.

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, “Needle drainage of a breast cyst, first cyst (CPT 19000) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-19000-needle-drainage-of-a-breast-cyst-first-cyst