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Procedure price report · Excision of skin lesion

Removal of tumor under skin of neck or chest, 3 cm+

CPT 21552the billing code this page is about

Surgical removal of a soft tissue growth located in the fatty layer beneath the skin of the neck or front of the chest, measuring 3 cm or larger.

Hospitals typically charge $2,544 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,291 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,786. Most fall between $841 and $5,854 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,291
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 1,291 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
$591$955$2,544$5,203$8,406

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 14× what the cheapest tenth charges ($591 vs $8,406).

How the prices are spread

$458 – $631: 90 hospitals$458$631 – $870: 127 hospitals$870 – $1,199: 138 hospitals$870$1,199 – $1,652: 107 hospitals$1,652 – $2,276: 79 hospitals$1,652$2,276 – $3,137: 114 hospitals$3,137 – $4,324: 144 hospitals$3,137$4,324 – $5,959: 175 hospitals$5,959 – $8,212: 115 hospitals$5,959$8,212 – $11,317: 76 hospitals$8,212median $2,544price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,165 of 1,291 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$458$63190
$631$870127
$870$1,199138
$1,199$1,652107
$1,652$2,27679
$2,276$3,137114
$3,137$4,324144
$4,324$5,959175
$5,959$8,212115
$8,212$11,31776

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$2,968
Median cash price$2,544
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.86×

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 $2,544.

Alaska: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $745 across 11 hospitalsME$745Vermont: median $864 across 11 hospitalsVT$864New Hampshire: median $680 across 13 hospitalsNH$680Washington: median $1,499 across 31 hospitalsWA$1,499Idaho: median $2,162 across 17 hospitalsID$2,162Montana: median $800 across 15 hospitalsMT$800North Dakota: median $2,944 across 10 hospitalsND$2,944Minnesota: median $1,568 across 58 hospitalsMN$1,568Illinois: median $1,700 across 53 hospitalsIL$1,700Wisconsin: median $2,172 across 61 hospitalsWI$2,172Michigan: median $2,310 across 49 hospitalsMI$2,310New York: median $3,387 across 78 hospitalsNY$3,387Massachusetts: median $4,618 across 30 hospitalsMA$4,618Oregon: median $830 across 30 hospitalsOR$830Nevada: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 8 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 $1,091 across 50 hospitalsIA$1,091Indiana: median $1,387 across 34 hospitalsIN$1,387Ohio: median $5,280 across 55 hospitalsOH$5,280Pennsylvania: median $3,356 across 53 hospitalsPA$3,356New Jersey: median $3,819 across 37 hospitalsNJ$3,819Connecticut: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $4,576 across 71 hospitalsCA$4,576Utah: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $1,970 across 22 hospitalsCO$1,970Nebraska: median $1,076 across 24 hospitalsNE$1,076Missouri: median $1,047 across 33 hospitalsMO$1,047Kentucky: median $800 across 16 hospitalsKY$800West Virginia: median $2,263 across 28 hospitalsWV$2,263Virginia: median $5,758 across 39 hospitalsVA$5,758Maryland: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $5,278 across 13 hospitalsAZ$5,278New Mexico: median $4,500 across 11 hospitalsNM$4,500Kansas: median $1,152 across 39 hospitalsKS$1,152Arkansas: median $1,380 across 18 hospitalsAR$1,380Tennessee: median $3,632 across 15 hospitalsTN$3,632North Carolina: median $4,347 across 31 hospitalsNC$4,347South Carolina: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $611 across 17 hospitalsOK$611Louisiana: median $2,409 across 20 hospitalsLA$2,409Mississippi: median $1,183 across 20 hospitalsMS$1,183Alabama: median $2,796 across 17 hospitalsAL$2,796Georgia: median $7,309 across 17 hospitalsGA$7,309Hawaii: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $5,642 across 48 hospitalsTX$5,642Florida: median $6,277 across 27 hospitalsFL$6,277
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $2,544. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Georgia GA17$7,309+187%$2,899 – $7,473
Florida FL27$6,277+147%$2,111 – $10,696
Virginia VA39$5,758+126%$4,062 – $8,299
Texas TX48$5,642+122%$2,480 – $7,516
Ohio OH55$5,280+108%$801 – $10,792
Arizona AZ13$5,278+107%$695 – $10,273
Massachusetts MA30$4,618+82%$1,508 – $6,709
California CA71$4,576+80%$1,140 – $9,626
New Mexico NM11$4,500+77%$1,668 – $13,183
North Carolina NC31$4,347+71%$2,023 – $4,745
New Jersey NJ37$3,819+50%$3,171 – $5,855
Tennessee TN15$3,632+43%$431 – $4,688
New York NY78$3,387+33%$859 – $5,585
Pennsylvania PA53$3,356+32%$621 – $9,117
North Dakota ND10$2,944+16%$649 – $4,625
Alabama AL17$2,796+10%$1,253 – $8,583
Louisiana LA20$2,409−5%$795 – $4,525
Michigan MI49$2,310−9%$563 – $4,136
West Virginia WV28$2,263−11%$906 – $5,300
Wisconsin WI61$2,172−15%$1,207 – $2,326
Idaho ID17$2,162−15%$986 – $6,379
Colorado CO22$1,970−23%$857 – $7,529
Illinois IL53$1,700−33%$805 – $5,296
Minnesota MN58$1,568−38%$793 – $3,852
Washington WA31$1,499−41%$925 – $4,693
Indiana IN34$1,387−45%$511 – $5,751
Arkansas AR18$1,380−46%$887 – $3,638
Mississippi MS20$1,183−54%$756 – $5,768
Kansas KS39$1,152−55%$717 – $3,746
Iowa IA50$1,091−57%$751 – $2,540
Nebraska NE24$1,076−58%$917 – $3,721
Missouri MO33$1,047−59%$670 – $2,895
Vermont VT11$864−66%$505 – $2,984
Oregon OR30$830−67%$430 – $1,461
Montana MT15$800−69%$393 – $1,358
Kentucky KY16$800−69%$511 – $2,477
Maine ME11$745−71%$640 – $1,466
New Hampshire NH13$680−73%$408 – $2,326
Oklahoma OK17$611−76%$611 – $5,835
Nevada NV9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT3not 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 $2,544.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care886$3,409$1,018 – $7,309
Children’s13fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access390$1,117$680 – $3,306
Ownership
For-profit130$4,688$1,559 – $8,595
Government251$1,474$858 – $4,693
Non-profit908$2,519$817 – $5,899
System affiliation
Part of a system978$3,177$887 – $6,683
Independent313$1,349$762 – $3,721

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$3,579
Median cash price$2,544
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

686 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,906 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,400; most fall between $760 and $5,280.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 686 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
$511$867$1,906$4,745$7,473

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 15× what the cheapest tenth charges ($511 vs $7,473).

Of the 759 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 686 gave a usable cash price; 33 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 40 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,291 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (33%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,415 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,291
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here70
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded9
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded45
Hospitals that filed this code1,415

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 Exc Tumor Soft Tis Neck/Ant Thorax Subq 3 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, “Removal of tumor under skin of neck or chest, 3 cm+ (CPT 21552) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-21552-removal-of-tumor-under-skin-of-neck-or-chest-3-cm