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Procedure price report · Arthroscopy

Elbow arthroscopy to remove loose fragment or foreign body

CPT 29834the billing code this page is about

Keyhole elbow surgery to take out loose pieces of bone or cartilage, or a foreign object, from inside the joint.

Hospitals typically charge $2,101 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 467 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,528. Most fall between $926 and $5,400 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
467
States
46
Filings dated
Mar 2023 – 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 467 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
$683$1,095$2,101$4,881$8,770

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 13× what the cheapest tenth charges ($683 vs $8,770).

How the prices are spread

$405 – $559: 12 hospitals$405$559 – $772: 28 hospitals$772 – $1,067: 50 hospitals$772$1,067 – $1,473: 80 hospitals$1,473 – $2,035: 40 hospitals$1,473$2,035 – $2,811: 46 hospitals$2,811 – $3,882: 46 hospitals$2,811$3,882 – $5,362: 41 hospitals$5,362 – $7,406: 36 hospitals$5,362$7,406 – $10,230: 44 hospitals$7,406median $2,101price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (423 of 467 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$405$55912
$559$77228
$772$1,06750
$1,067$1,47380
$1,473$2,03540
$2,035$2,81146
$2,811$3,88246
$3,882$5,36241
$5,362$7,40636
$7,406$10,23044

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$3,343
Median cash price$2,101
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.63×

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 $2,101.

Alaska: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: median $3,855 across 13 hospitalsID$3,855Montana: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $1,599 across 14 hospitalsMN$1,599Illinois: median $1,176 across 18 hospitalsIL$1,176Wisconsin: median $2,481 across 24 hospitalsWI$2,481Michigan: median $1,213 across 33 hospitalsMI$1,213New York: median $3,840 across 29 hospitalsNY$3,840Massachusetts: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $1,095 across 15 hospitalsOR$1,095Nevada: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $1,210 across 20 hospitalsIA$1,210Indiana: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureINOhio: median $1,669 across 12 hospitalsOH$1,669Pennsylvania: median $2,382 across 19 hospitalsPA$2,382New Jersey: median $4,627 across 30 hospitalsNJ$4,627Connecticut: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $5,232 across 48 hospitalsCA$5,232Utah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: median $1,421 across 12 hospitalsMO$1,421Kentucky: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 2 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 $813 across 14 hospitalsOK$813Louisiana: median $2,102 across 10 hospitalsLA$2,102Mississippi: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $5,400 across 22 hospitalsTX$5,400Florida: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $2,101. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Texas TX22$5,400+157%$2,653 – $5,400
California CA48$5,232+149%$1,472 – $8,770
New Jersey NJ30$4,627+120%$3,591 – $8,289
Idaho ID13$3,855+83%$1,088 – $8,372
New York NY29$3,840+83%$1,172 – $3,884
Wisconsin WI24$2,481+18%$2,460 – $2,481
Pennsylvania PA19$2,382+13%$115 – $5,486
Louisiana LA10$2,1020%$1,140 – $4,792
Ohio OH12$1,669−21%$1,210 – $2,254
Minnesota MN14$1,599−24%$782 – $2,992
Missouri MO12$1,421−32%$762 – $15,481
Michigan MI33$1,213−42%$1,032 – $4,499
Iowa IA20$1,210−42%$1,109 – $1,222
Illinois IL18$1,176−44%$377 – $4,792
Oregon OR15$1,095−48%$926 – $1,645
Oklahoma OK14$813−61%$813 – $6,615
Vermont VT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Georgia GA8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Indiana IN1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND1not 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 $2,101.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care355$2,481$926 – $6,261
Children’s15fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access97$1,463$857 – $2,481
Ownership
For-profit51$4,187$1,294 – $9,426
Government71$1,424$859 – $3,840
Non-profit345$2,003$930 – $5,400
System affiliation
Part of a system367$2,460$1,010 – $6,261
Independent100$1,645$842 – $3,855

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,425
Median cash price$2,101
Cash as a share of list, median hospital64%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 36%. 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

244 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,472 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,215; most fall between $813 and $5,400.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 244 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
$559$900$1,472$4,265$8,718

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 16× what the cheapest tenth charges ($559 vs $8,718).

Of the 269 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 244 gave a usable cash price; 13 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 12 a list price only.

How complete is this

467 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (12%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 514 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted467
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here33
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 — excluded13
Hospitals that filed this code514

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 Arthroscopy family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Arthroscopy Elbow Surgical W/Removal Loose/FB.

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, “Elbow arthroscopy to remove loose fragment or foreign body (CPT 29834) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-29834-elbow-arthroscopy-to-remove-loose-fragment-or-foreign-body