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Procedure price report · Other OR therapeutic procedures on joints

Knee arthroscopy with cartilage surface abrasion or drilling

CPT 29879the billing code this page is about

Keyhole knee surgery in which the damaged joint surface is roughened or small holes are drilled into the bone to encourage new cartilage-like tissue.

Hospitals typically charge $2,920 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 824 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $3,064. Most fall between $1,234 and $6,668 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
824
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 824 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
$902$1,401$2,920$5,034$11,440

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 13× what the cheapest tenth charges ($902 vs $11,440).

How the prices are spread

$683 – $942: 48 hospitals$683$942 – $1,298: 88 hospitals$1,298 – $1,789: 114 hospitals$1,298$1,789 – $2,465: 101 hospitals$2,465 – $3,397: 65 hospitals$2,465$3,397 – $4,681: 119 hospitals$4,681 – $6,451: 76 hospitals$4,681$6,451 – $8,890: 61 hospitals$8,890 – $12,251: 36 hospitals$8,890$12,251 – $16,883: 34 hospitals$12,251median $2,920price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (742 of 824 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$683$94248
$942$1,29888
$1,298$1,789114
$1,789$2,465101
$2,465$3,39765
$3,397$4,681119
$4,681$6,45176
$6,451$8,89061
$8,890$12,25136
$12,251$16,88334

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$3,343
Median cash price$2,920
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.87×

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 $2,920.

Alaska: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: median $927 across 10 hospitalsVT$927New Hampshire: median $1,048 across 10 hospitalsNH$1,048Washington: median $1,802 across 19 hospitalsWA$1,802Idaho: median $3,855 across 16 hospitalsID$3,855Montana: median $1,982 across 11 hospitalsMT$1,982North Dakota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $2,705 across 29 hospitalsMN$2,705Illinois: median $2,628 across 29 hospitalsIL$2,628Wisconsin: median $3,472 across 40 hospitalsWI$3,472Michigan: median $1,875 across 38 hospitalsMI$1,875New York: median $3,840 across 56 hospitalsNY$3,840Massachusetts: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $1,669 across 21 hospitalsOR$1,669Nevada: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $1,627 across 37 hospitalsIA$1,627Indiana: median $2,939 across 21 hospitalsIN$2,939Ohio: median $3,011 across 28 hospitalsOH$3,011Pennsylvania: median $1,031 across 26 hospitalsPA$1,031New Jersey: median $4,627 across 31 hospitalsNJ$4,627Connecticut: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $1,966 across 56 hospitalsCA$1,966Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $1,385 across 13 hospitalsCO$1,385Nebraska: median $2,186 across 22 hospitalsNE$2,186Missouri: median $3,182 across 29 hospitalsMO$3,182Kentucky: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: median $2,344 across 19 hospitalsWV$2,344Virginia: median $7,203 across 12 hospitalsVA$7,203Maryland: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 9 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 $1,778 across 20 hospitalsKS$1,778Arkansas: median $1,361 across 11 hospitalsAR$1,361Tennessee: median $1,882 across 13 hospitalsTN$1,882North Carolina: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: median $6,261 across 11 hospitalsSC$6,261Oklahoma: median $1,389 across 18 hospitalsOK$1,389Louisiana: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: median $7,838 across 10 hospitalsMS$7,838Alabama: median $3,170 across 15 hospitalsAL$3,170Georgia: median $8,718 across 13 hospitalsGA$8,718Hawaii: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $4,059 across 41 hospitalsTX$4,059Florida: median $8,143 across 14 hospitalsFL$8,143
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $2,920. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Georgia GA13$8,718+199%$3,265 – $8,718
Florida FL14$8,143+179%$2,337 – $15,574
Mississippi MS10$7,838+168%$1,070 – $9,750
Virginia VA12$7,203+147%$445 – $12,658
South Carolina SC11$6,261+114%$4,592 – $15,735
New Jersey NJ31$4,627+58%$3,594 – $8,028
Texas TX41$4,059+39%$2,794 – $9,212
Idaho ID16$3,855+32%$1,337 – $6,877
New York NY56$3,840+31%$1,126 – $4,595
Wisconsin WI40$3,472+19%$3,235 – $5,171
Missouri MO29$3,182+9%$1,007 – $15,680
Alabama AL15$3,170+9%$1,866 – $10,686
Ohio OH28$3,011+3%$1,637 – $16,025
Indiana IN21$2,939+1%$1,119 – $10,005
Minnesota MN29$2,705−7%$1,378 – $4,726
Illinois IL29$2,628−10%$1,119 – $10,753
West Virginia WV19$2,344−20%$703 – $8,036
Nebraska NE22$2,186−25%$1,351 – $3,630
Montana MT11$1,982−32%$739 – $2,357
California CA56$1,966−33%$1,472 – $5,034
Tennessee TN13$1,882−36%$866 – $6,767
Michigan MI38$1,875−36%$1,369 – $4,499
Washington WA19$1,802−38%$1,142 – $3,487
Kansas KS20$1,778−39%$946 – $3,519
Oregon OR21$1,669−43%$1,234 – $2,198
Iowa IA37$1,627−44%$1,411 – $2,038
Oklahoma OK18$1,389−52%$1,389 – $6,615
Colorado CO13$1,385−53%$800 – $6,477
Arkansas AR11$1,361−53%$1,098 – $2,280
New Hampshire NH10$1,048−64%$566 – $3,122
Pennsylvania PA26$1,031−65%$432 – $5,038
Vermont VT10$927−68%$417 – $1,689
Arizona AZ9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT1not 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 $2,920.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care560$3,546$1,378 – $8,053
Children’s18fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access246$1,875$1,119 – $3,761
Ownership
For-profit98$4,829$1,906 – $12,623
Government158$1,982$1,137 – $4,912
Non-profit568$2,751$1,218 – $5,829
System affiliation
Part of a system617$3,280$1,385 – $7,203
Independent207$2,100$1,141 – $4,592

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$3,363
Median cash price$2,920
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

372 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,777 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,193; most fall between $1,064 and $4,805.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 372 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
$752$1,119$1,777$4,059$7,071

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.4× what the cheapest tenth charges ($752 vs $7,071).

Of the 417 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 372 gave a usable cash price; 21 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 24 a list price only.

How complete is this

824 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (21%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 915 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted824
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here54
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded8
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded29
Hospitals that filed this code915

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 Arthrs Knee Abrasion Arthrp/Mlt Drlg/Microfx.

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, “Knee arthroscopy with cartilage surface abrasion or drilling (CPT 29879) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-29879-knee-arthroscopy-with-cartilage-surface-abrasion-or-drilling