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Procedure price report · Other OR therapeutic procedures on joints

Opening a knuckle joint to drain or remove a loose body

CPT 26075the billing code this page is about

Surgical opening of one metacarpophalangeal (knuckle) joint to explore it, drain fluid, or remove loose or foreign material; billed per joint.

Hospitals typically charge $1,625 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 697 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,085. Most fall between $608 and $4,972 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
697
States
48
Filings dated
Mar 2023 – 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 697 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
$449$699$1,625$4,091$7,272

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 16× what the cheapest tenth charges ($449 vs $7,272).

How the prices are spread

$363 – $499: 59 hospitals$363$499 – $686: 79 hospitals$686 – $943: 69 hospitals$686$943 – $1,296: 56 hospitals$1,296 – $1,781: 62 hospitals$1,296$1,781 – $2,449: 61 hospitals$2,449 – $3,366: 54 hospitals$2,449$3,366 – $4,627: 72 hospitals$4,627 – $6,359: 62 hospitals$4,627$6,359 – $8,742: 66 hospitals$6,359median $1,625price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (640 of 697 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$363$49959
$499$68679
$686$94369
$943$1,29656
$1,296$1,78162
$1,781$2,44961
$2,449$3,36654
$3,366$4,62772
$4,627$6,35962
$6,359$8,74266

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$3,343
Median cash price$1,625
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.49×

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 $1,625.

Alaska: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 9 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 $888 across 15 hospitalsWA$888Idaho: median $2,078 across 14 hospitalsID$2,078Montana: median $789 across 11 hospitalsMT$789North Dakota: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $1,670 across 27 hospitalsMN$1,670Illinois: median $826 across 21 hospitalsIL$826Wisconsin: median $2,089 across 38 hospitalsWI$2,089Michigan: median $1,483 across 40 hospitalsMI$1,483New York: median $3,840 across 38 hospitalsNY$3,840Massachusetts: median $5,434 across 11 hospitalsMA$5,434Oregon: median $1,144 across 25 hospitalsOR$1,144Nevada: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $826 across 26 hospitalsIA$826Indiana: median $421 across 13 hospitalsIN$421Ohio: median $1,017 across 17 hospitalsOH$1,017Pennsylvania: median $2,511 across 24 hospitalsPA$2,511New Jersey: median $4,330 across 30 hospitalsNJ$4,330Connecticut: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $2,554 across 58 hospitalsCA$2,554Utah: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $700 across 12 hospitalsCO$700Nebraska: median $725 across 13 hospitalsNE$725Missouri: median $969 across 14 hospitalsMO$969Kentucky: median $523 across 10 hospitalsKY$523West Virginia: median $363 across 14 hospitalsWV$363Virginia: median $4,371 across 19 hospitalsVA$4,371Maryland: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMDDelaware: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $670 across 18 hospitalsKS$670Arkansas: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $1,445 across 11 hospitalsTN$1,445North Carolina: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $457 across 18 hospitalsOK$457Louisiana: median $1,650 across 10 hospitalsLA$1,650Mississippi: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $3,047 across 29 hospitalsTX$3,047Florida: median $5,776 across 18 hospitalsFL$5,776
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,625. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Florida FL18$5,776+255%$2,252 – $7,272
Massachusetts MA11$5,434+234%$2,884 – $7,665
Virginia VA19$4,371+169%$2,073 – $4,972
New Jersey NJ30$4,330+166%$3,594 – $5,419
New York NY38$3,840+136%$749 – $4,084
Texas TX29$3,047+87%$1,087 – $3,127
California CA58$2,554+57%$1,472 – $8,742
Pennsylvania PA24$2,511+55%$223 – $5,486
Wisconsin WI38$2,089+29%$1,504 – $3,326
Idaho ID14$2,078+28%$694 – $8,372
Minnesota MN27$1,670+3%$780 – $2,193
Louisiana LA10$1,650+2%$905 – $5,299
Michigan MI40$1,483−9%$387 – $8,663
Tennessee TN11$1,445−11%$298 – $1,445
Oregon OR25$1,144−30%$640 – $2,445
Ohio OH17$1,017−37%$623 – $6,062
Missouri MO14$969−40%$521 – $3,737
Washington WA15$888−45%$640 – $3,101
Iowa IA26$826−49%$676 – $908
Illinois IL21$826−49%$509 – $2,281
Montana MT11$789−51%$557 – $1,216
Nebraska NE13$725−55%$567 – $1,231
Colorado CO12$700−57%$608 – $4,655
Kansas KS18$670−59%$535 – $1,852
Kentucky KY10$523−68%$339 – $1,926
Oklahoma OK18$457−72%$457 – $1,805
Indiana IN13$421−74%$386 – $2,579
West Virginia WV14$363−78%$357 – $1,235
Vermont VT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Georgia GA8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE1not 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 $1,625.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care491$2,579$656 – $5,787
Children’s12fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access194$939$550 – $2,193
Ownership
For-profit70$3,047$809 – $6,579
Government132$1,022$565 – $3,840
Non-profit495$1,612$606 – $4,972
System affiliation
Part of a system528$2,073$618 – $5,419
Independent169$1,031$571 – $3,500

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,314
Median cash price$1,625
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

415 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,504 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,116; most fall between $595 and $5,850.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 415 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
$457$694$1,504$4,972$8,663

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 19× what the cheapest tenth charges ($457 vs $8,663).

Of the 453 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 415 gave a usable cash price; 24 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 14 a list price only.

How complete is this

697 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (18%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 764 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted697
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here46
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded2
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded19
Hospitals that filed this code764

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 Other OR therapeutic procedures on joints family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Arthrt Expl Drg/Rmvl Loose/FB Mtcarphlngl Jt Ea.

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, “Opening a knuckle joint to drain or remove a loose body (CPT 26075) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-26075-opening-a-knuckle-joint-to-drain-or-remove-a-loose-body