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Procedure price report · Arthrocentesis

Fluid removal or injection, mid-size joint, with ultrasound

CPT 20606the billing code this page is about

Draining fluid from or injecting medication into a medium joint or fluid sac such as the wrist, elbow or ankle, guided by ultrasound with a permanent image recorded.

Hospitals typically charge $757 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,302 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $752. Most fall between $244 and $1,348 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,302
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 2,302 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
$135$315$757$1,218$2,005

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 15× what the cheapest tenth charges ($135 vs $2,005).

How the prices are spread

$86 – $121: 83 hospitals$86$121 – $170: 118 hospitals$170 – $239: 128 hospitals$170$239 – $336: 165 hospitals$336 – $472: 164 hospitals$336$472 – $663: 259 hospitals$663 – $931: 392 hospitals$663$931 – $1,309: 386 hospitals$1,309 – $1,839: 213 hospitals$1,309$1,839 – $2,585: 170 hospitals$1,839median $757price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,078 of 2,302 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$86$12183
$121$170118
$170$239128
$239$336165
$336$472164
$472$663259
$663$931392
$931$1,309386
$1,309$1,839213
$1,839$2,585170

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$721
Median cash price$757
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.05×

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 $757.

Alaska: median $574 across 15 hospitalsAK$574Maine: median $199 across 18 hospitalsME$199Vermont: median $202 across 12 hospitalsVT$202New Hampshire: median $125 across 16 hospitalsNH$125Washington: median $683 across 59 hospitalsWA$683Idaho: median $500 across 22 hospitalsID$500Montana: median $113 across 19 hospitalsMT$113North Dakota: median $712 across 13 hospitalsND$712Minnesota: median $589 across 73 hospitalsMN$589Illinois: median $692 across 101 hospitalsIL$692Wisconsin: median $508 across 95 hospitalsWI$508Michigan: median $822 across 73 hospitalsMI$822New York: median $844 across 84 hospitalsNY$844Massachusetts: median $652 across 44 hospitalsMA$652Oregon: median $412 across 50 hospitalsOR$412Nevada: median $471 across 15 hospitalsNV$471Wyoming: median $436 across 11 hospitalsWY$436South Dakota: median $246 across 13 hospitalsSD$246Iowa: median $281 across 61 hospitalsIA$281Indiana: median $343 across 60 hospitalsIN$343Ohio: median $1,204 across 116 hospitalsOH$1,204Pennsylvania: median $812 across 110 hospitalsPA$812New Jersey: median $923 across 50 hospitalsNJ$923Connecticut: median $295 across 17 hospitalsCT$295Rhode Island: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $1,321 across 155 hospitalsCA$1,321Utah: median $1,218 across 28 hospitalsUT$1,218Colorado: median $836 across 48 hospitalsCO$836Nebraska: median $329 across 36 hospitalsNE$329Missouri: median $486 across 61 hospitalsMO$486Kentucky: median $837 across 27 hospitalsKY$837West Virginia: median $640 across 28 hospitalsWV$640Virginia: median $630 across 54 hospitalsVA$630Maryland: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $442 across 44 hospitalsAZ$442New Mexico: median $168 across 18 hospitalsNM$168Kansas: median $293 across 48 hospitalsKS$293Arkansas: median $444 across 17 hospitalsAR$444Tennessee: median $293 across 46 hospitalsTN$293North Carolina: median $765 across 53 hospitalsNC$765South Carolina: median $1,225 across 42 hospitalsSC$1,225Oklahoma: median $483 across 40 hospitalsOK$483Louisiana: median $371 across 22 hospitalsLA$371Mississippi: median $422 across 34 hospitalsMS$422Alabama: median $686 across 23 hospitalsAL$686Georgia: median $1,005 across 67 hospitalsGA$1,005Hawaii: median $1,252 across 17 hospitalsHI$1,252Texas: median $1,088 across 138 hospitalsTX$1,088Florida: median $1,096 across 90 hospitalsFL$1,096
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $757. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA155$1,321+75%$576 – $2,005
Hawaii HI17$1,252+65%$977 – $1,654
South Carolina SC42$1,225+62%$815 – $1,305
Utah UT28$1,218+61%$1,029 – $1,433
Ohio OH116$1,204+59%$551 – $2,254
Florida FL90$1,096+45%$550 – $1,530
Texas TX138$1,088+44%$804 – $1,597
Georgia GA67$1,005+33%$815 – $1,945
New Jersey NJ50$923+22%$767 – $4,193
New York NY84$844+12%$224 – $1,546
Kentucky KY27$837+11%$415 – $1,583
Colorado CO48$836+10%$403 – $1,339
Michigan MI73$822+9%$480 – $1,119
Pennsylvania PA110$812+7%$339 – $1,484
North Carolina NC53$765+1%$325 – $1,128
North Dakota ND13$712−6%$224 – $1,227
Illinois IL101$692−9%$282 – $1,252
Alabama AL23$686−9%$437 – $1,347
Washington WA59$683−10%$166 – $992
Massachusetts MA44$652−14%$302 – $1,145
West Virginia WV28$640−15%$83 – $950
Virginia VA54$630−17%$242 – $1,074
Minnesota MN73$589−22%$262 – $708
Alaska AK15$574−24%$252 – $1,049
Wisconsin WI95$508−33%$217 – $960
Idaho ID22$500−34%$96 – $1,549
Missouri MO61$486−36%$229 – $1,296
Oklahoma OK40$483−36%$252 – $674
Nevada NV15$471−38%$183 – $767
Arkansas AR17$444−41%$225 – $645
Arizona AZ44$442−42%$274 – $1,662
Wyoming WY11$436−42%$164 – $880
Mississippi MS34$422−44%$212 – $591
Oregon OR50$412−46%$150 – $1,152
Louisiana LA22$371−51%$212 – $811
Indiana IN60$343−55%$92 – $1,013
Nebraska NE36$329−57%$195 – $632
Connecticut CT17$295−61%$200 – $1,510
Kansas KS48$293−61%$130 – $665
Tennessee TN46$293−61%$227 – $860
Iowa IA61$281−63%$157 – $1,067
South Dakota SD13$246−68%$203 – $246
Vermont VT12$202−73%$119 – $1,504
Maine ME18$199−74%$56 – $1,085
New Mexico NM18$168−78%$48 – $963
New Hampshire NH16$125−84%$63 – $412
Montana MT19$113−85%$72 – $342
Maryland MD7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE5not 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 $757.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,739$833$339 – $1,433
Children’s56$1,037$539 – $2,888
Critical access500$324$127 – $919
Ownership
For-profit212$929$444 – $1,662
Government376$547$173 – $1,128
Non-profit1,707$781$256 – $1,369
System affiliation
Part of a system1,899$820$276 – $1,404
Independent403$486$135 – $1,036

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$1,300
Median cash price$757
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

1,754 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $848 and the average of the middle 60% is $843; most fall between $325 and $1,433.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,754 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
$164$415$848$1,294$2,071

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 13× what the cheapest tenth charges ($164 vs $2,071).

Of the 1,882 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,754 gave a usable cash price; 41 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 87 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,302 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (58%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 2,474 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,302
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here79
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded1
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded92
Hospitals that filed this code2,474

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 Arthrocentesis family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Hcc Asp/Inj Intermed Joint Lt.

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, “Fluid removal or injection, mid-size joint, with ultrasound (CPT 20606) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-20606-fluid-removal-or-injection-mid-size-joint-with-ultrasound