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Procedure price report · Division of joint capsule, ligament or cartilage

Knee arthroscopy to release scar tissue in the joint

CPT 29884the billing code this page is about

Keyhole knee surgery cutting internal scar tissue that limits movement, billed when it is the only procedure performed and may include manipulation of the joint.

Hospitals typically charge $2,864 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 674 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,965. Most fall between $1,225 and $6,637 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
674
States
49
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 674 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
$937$1,426$2,864$5,329$9,387

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 10× what the cheapest tenth charges ($937 vs $9,387).

How the prices are spread

$671 – $917: 30 hospitals$671$917 – $1,255: 77 hospitals$1,255 – $1,717: 112 hospitals$1,255$1,717 – $2,349: 60 hospitals$2,349 – $3,213: 49 hospitals$2,349$3,213 – $4,396: 111 hospitals$4,396 – $6,014: 52 hospitals$4,396$6,014 – $8,227: 49 hospitals$8,227 – $11,255: 49 hospitals$8,227$11,255 – $15,397: 19 hospitals$11,255median $2,864price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (608 of 674 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$671$91730
$917$1,25577
$1,255$1,717112
$1,717$2,34960
$2,349$3,21349
$3,213$4,396111
$4,396$6,01452
$6,014$8,22749
$8,227$11,25549
$11,255$15,39719

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$3,343
Median cash price$2,864
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 $2,864.

Alaska: 2 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: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $1,426 across 16 hospitalsWA$1,426Idaho: median $4,528 across 14 hospitalsID$4,528Montana: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $2,795 across 30 hospitalsMN$2,795Illinois: median $1,771 across 26 hospitalsIL$1,771Wisconsin: median $3,251 across 34 hospitalsWI$3,251Michigan: median $1,536 across 34 hospitalsMI$1,536New York: median $3,840 across 36 hospitalsNY$3,840Massachusetts: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $1,469 across 18 hospitalsOR$1,469Nevada: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 5 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 $1,522 across 28 hospitalsIA$1,522Indiana: median $1,225 across 10 hospitalsIN$1,225Ohio: median $2,308 across 21 hospitalsOH$2,308Pennsylvania: median $2,382 across 27 hospitalsPA$2,382New Jersey: median $4,130 across 32 hospitalsNJ$4,130Connecticut: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $3,158 across 49 hospitalsCA$3,158Utah: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $1,499 across 10 hospitalsCO$1,499Nebraska: median $1,665 across 16 hospitalsNE$1,665Missouri: median $3,261 across 21 hospitalsMO$3,261Kentucky: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: median $1,698 across 17 hospitalsWV$1,698Virginia: 3 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: 8 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 $1,429 across 18 hospitalsKS$1,429Arkansas: median $2,297 across 10 hospitalsAR$2,297Tennessee: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $1,301 across 15 hospitalsOK$1,301Louisiana: median $5,445 across 11 hospitalsLA$5,445Mississippi: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: median $2,920 across 11 hospitalsAL$2,920Georgia: median $696 across 10 hospitalsGA$696Hawaii: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $4,264 across 35 hospitalsTX$4,264Florida: median $8,231 across 14 hospitalsFL$8,231
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $2,864. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Florida FL14$8,231+187%$2,153 – $12,617
Louisiana LA11$5,445+90%$4,074 – $10,123
Idaho ID14$4,528+58%$1,253 – $6,877
Texas TX35$4,264+49%$2,653 – $8,273
New Jersey NJ32$4,130+44%$3,594 – $5,741
New York NY36$3,840+34%$1,482 – $3,884
Missouri MO21$3,261+14%$1,014 – $9,548
Wisconsin WI34$3,251+14%$3,077 – $6,872
California CA49$3,158+10%$1,472 – $8,770
Alabama AL11$2,920+2%$1,735 – $17,617
Minnesota MN30$2,795−2%$1,366 – $3,993
Pennsylvania PA27$2,382−17%$405 – $5,486
Ohio OH21$2,308−19%$1,533 – $11,954
Arkansas AR10$2,297−20%$1,164 – $4,693
Illinois IL26$1,771−38%$1,225 – $8,798
West Virginia WV17$1,698−41%$660 – $5,779
Nebraska NE16$1,665−42%$1,500 – $3,825
Michigan MI34$1,536−46%$1,204 – $4,499
Iowa IA28$1,522−47%$1,246 – $1,955
Colorado CO10$1,499−48%$876 – $1,657
Oregon OR18$1,469−49%$1,156 – $2,061
Kansas KS18$1,429−50%$962 – $4,179
Washington WA16$1,426−50%$1,156 – $2,835
Oklahoma OK15$1,301−55%$1,301 – $5,950
Indiana IN10$1,225−57%$676 – $3,191
Georgia GA10$696−76%$696 – $10,816
North Carolina NC9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI1not 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 $2,864.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care477$3,559$1,351 – $7,793
Children’s17fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access180$1,657$1,055 – $3,734
Ownership
For-profit85$5,004$1,866 – $12,740
Government132$1,901$1,120 – $4,519
Non-profit457$2,818$1,225 – $6,261
System affiliation
Part of a system504$3,251$1,301 – $6,877
Independent170$2,189$1,127 – $4,834

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$3,312
Median cash price$2,864
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

316 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,771 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,239; most fall between $1,156 and $4,264.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 316 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
$848$1,225$1,771$3,990$8,372

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.9× what the cheapest tenth charges ($848 vs $8,372).

Of the 348 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 316 gave a usable cash price; 14 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 18 a list price only.

How complete is this

674 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (17%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 744 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted674
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 — excluded22
Hospitals that filed this code744

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 Division of joint capsule, ligament or cartilage family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Arthroscopy Knee W/Lysis Adhesions W/WO Manj Spx.

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 to release scar tissue in the joint (CPT 29884) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-29884-knee-arthroscopy-to-release-scar-tissue-in-the-joint