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Procedure price report · Other non-OR therapeutic procedures on nose, mouth and pharynx

Custom-made artificial ear

CPT 21086the billing code this page is about

Taking a mold and making a custom external ear prosthesis for a person missing part or all of the outer ear.

Hospitals typically charge $3,855 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 238 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $4,004. Most fall between $2,063 and $6,557 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
238
States
39
Filings dated
Jun 2024 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 23, 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 238 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
$1,447$2,130$3,855$5,965$8,182

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 5.7× what the cheapest tenth charges ($1,447 vs $8,182).

How the prices are spread

$896 – $1,126: 3 hospitals$896$1,126 – $1,415: 9 hospitals$1,415 – $1,778: 13 hospitals$1,415$1,778 – $2,234: 25 hospitals$2,234 – $2,808: 11 hospitals$2,234$2,808 – $3,528: 22 hospitals$3,528 – $4,433: 53 hospitals$3,528$4,433 – $5,570: 25 hospitals$5,570 – $6,999: 22 hospitals$5,570$6,999 – $8,795: 34 hospitals$6,999median $3,855price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (217 of 238 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$896$1,1263
$1,126$1,4159
$1,415$1,77813
$1,778$2,23425
$2,234$2,80811
$2,808$3,52822
$3,528$4,43353
$4,433$5,57025
$5,570$6,99922
$6,999$8,79534

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$3,387
Median cash price$3,855
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.14×

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 $3,855.

Alaska: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMEVermont: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $2,440 across 11 hospitalsIL$2,440Wisconsin: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWIMichigan: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMINew York: median $3,838 across 24 hospitalsNY$3,838Massachusetts: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMAOregon: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: median $4,183 across 14 hospitalsIA$4,183Indiana: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceINOhio: median $5,553 across 11 hospitalsOH$5,553Pennsylvania: median $877 across 14 hospitalsPA$877New Jersey: median $4,290 across 23 hospitalsNJ$4,290Connecticut: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $8,182 across 22 hospitalsCA$8,182Utah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNCSouth Carolina: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $2,130 across 12 hospitalsOK$2,130Louisiana: median $3,365 across 12 hospitalsLA$3,365Mississippi: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceGAHawaii: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceHITexas: median $6,557 across 20 hospitalsTX$6,557Florida: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $3,855. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA22$8,182+112%$8,182 – $8,182
Texas TX20$6,557+70%$4,538 – $7,213
Ohio OH11$5,553+44%$3,851 – $6,469
New Jersey NJ23$4,290+11%$3,590 – $5,741
Iowa IA14$4,183+9%$3,553 – $4,183
New York NY24$3,8380%$3,838 – $4,777
Louisiana LA12$3,365−13%$2,056 – $4,712
Illinois IL11$2,440−37%$1,258 – $4,779
Oklahoma OK12$2,130−45%$2,130 – $2,130
Pennsylvania PA14$877−77%$804 – $1,981
Michigan MI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wisconsin WI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY1not 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 $3,855.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care203$3,968$2,130 – $6,607
Children’s16fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access19fewer than 20 hospitals
Ownership
For-profit19fewer than 20 hospitals
Government22$3,838$2,440 – $3,863
Non-profit197$3,986$2,061 – $6,607
System affiliation
Part of a system199$3,871$2,063 – $7,024
Independent39$3,851$1,981 – $5,131

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$5,229
Median cash price$3,855
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

133 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $4,183 and the average of the middle 60% is $4,959; most fall between $2,061 and $8,182.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 133 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
$1,501$2,130$4,183$7,213$8,182

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 5.4× what the cheapest tenth charges ($1,501 vs $8,182).

Of the 145 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 133 gave a usable cash price; 7 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 5 a list price only.

How complete is this

238 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (6%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 253 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted238
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here10
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 — excluded4
Hospitals that filed this code253

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 23, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 23, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Related procedures

Part of the Other non-OR therapeutic procedures on nose, mouth and pharynx family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Impression & Preparation Auricular Prosthesis.

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, “Custom-made artificial ear (CPT 21086) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-21086-custom-made-artificial-ear