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Procedure price report · Other OR therapeutic procedures on joints

Ankle arthroscopy to remove a cartilage-and-bone defect

CPT 29891the billing code this page is about

Keyhole ankle surgery to cut out a damaged area of cartilage and underlying bone on the talus or shin bone, including drilling of the site.

Hospitals typically charge $2,780 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 631 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $3,160. Most fall between $1,208 and $7,686 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
631
States
50
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 631 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
$822$1,294$2,780$5,741$11,031

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 13× what the cheapest tenth charges ($822 vs $11,031).

How the prices are spread

$648 – $906: 40 hospitals$648$906 – $1,268: 78 hospitals$1,268 – $1,774: 87 hospitals$1,268$1,774 – $2,481: 64 hospitals$2,481 – $3,471: 51 hospitals$2,481$3,471 – $4,855: 103 hospitals$4,855 – $6,792: 42 hospitals$4,855$6,792 – $9,501: 54 hospitals$9,501 – $13,291: 25 hospitals$9,501$13,291 – $18,592: 25 hospitals$13,291median $2,780price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (569 of 631 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$648$90640
$906$1,26878
$1,268$1,77487
$1,774$2,48164
$2,481$3,47151
$3,471$4,855103
$4,855$6,79242
$6,792$9,50154
$9,501$13,29125
$13,291$18,59225

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$3,343
Median cash price$2,780
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.83×

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 $2,780.

Alaska: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 2 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 $1,423 across 14 hospitalsWA$1,423Idaho: median $6,122 across 15 hospitalsID$6,122Montana: 7 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 $3,200 across 28 hospitalsMN$3,200Illinois: median $1,621 across 23 hospitalsIL$1,621Wisconsin: median $4,640 across 35 hospitalsWI$4,640Michigan: median $1,280 across 37 hospitalsMI$1,280New York: median $3,840 across 37 hospitalsNY$3,840Massachusetts: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $1,253 across 14 hospitalsOR$1,253Nevada: 5 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 $1,664 across 26 hospitalsIA$1,664Indiana: median $1,380 across 15 hospitalsIN$1,380Ohio: median $2,514 across 18 hospitalsOH$2,514Pennsylvania: median $2,382 across 26 hospitalsPA$2,382New Jersey: median $4,627 across 34 hospitalsNJ$4,627Connecticut: 5 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 $8,943 across 31 hospitalsCA$8,943Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: median $2,120 across 14 hospitalsNE$2,120Missouri: median $3,261 across 17 hospitalsMO$3,261Kentucky: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: median $1,005 across 15 hospitalsWV$1,005Virginia: median $1,857 across 11 hospitalsVA$1,857Maryland: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $1,453 across 15 hospitalsKS$1,453Arkansas: median $1,335 across 10 hospitalsAR$1,335Tennessee: 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: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $1,409 across 15 hospitalsOK$1,409Louisiana: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: median $3,170 across 11 hospitalsAL$3,170Georgia: median $8,718 across 10 hospitalsGA$8,718Hawaii: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $4,516 across 28 hospitalsTX$4,516Florida: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $2,780. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA31$8,943+222%$1,997 – $8,943
Georgia GA10$8,718+214%$5,396 – $8,718
Idaho ID15$6,122+120%$1,370 – $8,372
Wisconsin WI35$4,640+67%$3,155 – $4,640
New Jersey NJ34$4,627+66%$3,591 – $9,762
Texas TX28$4,516+62%$2,653 – $5,927
New York NY37$3,840+38%$1,098 – $3,884
Missouri MO17$3,261+17%$1,046 – $11,519
Minnesota MN28$3,200+15%$1,398 – $4,276
Alabama AL11$3,170+14%$1,911 – $15,179
Ohio OH18$2,514−10%$1,274 – $8,833
Pennsylvania PA26$2,382−14%$440 – $6,027
Nebraska NE14$2,120−24%$1,653 – $9,714
Virginia VA11$1,857−33%$452 – $11,003
Iowa IA26$1,664−40%$1,273 – $1,833
Illinois IL23$1,621−42%$973 – $8,948
Kansas KS15$1,453−48%$517 – $4,462
Washington WA14$1,423−49%$1,157 – $6,051
Oklahoma OK15$1,409−49%$1,409 – $6,615
Indiana IN15$1,380−50%$973 – $2,298
Arkansas AR10$1,335−52%$1,208 – $6,729
Michigan MI37$1,280−54%$732 – $4,499
Oregon OR14$1,253−55%$1,253 – $2,232
West Virginia WV15$1,005−64%$712 – $1,947
Colorado CO9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS1not 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 $2,780.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care460$3,553$1,253 – $8,943
Children’s14fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access157$1,691$974 – $4,498
Ownership
For-profit84$4,516$1,554 – $12,865
Government103$1,911$1,218 – $4,483
Non-profit444$2,728$1,117 – $6,877
System affiliation
Part of a system472$3,347$1,236 – $8,718
Independent159$2,011$1,117 – $4,483

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$3,060
Median cash price$2,780
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

296 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,894 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,493; most fall between $1,045 and $5,814.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 296 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
$859$1,208$1,894$4,640$8,718

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 10× what the cheapest tenth charges ($859 vs $8,718).

Of the 331 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 296 gave a usable cash price; 16 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 19 a list price only.

How complete is this

631 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (16%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 705 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted631
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here42
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded4
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded27
Hospitals that filed this code705

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 Ankle Exc Ostchndrl Dfct W/Drlg Dfct.

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, “Ankle arthroscopy to remove a cartilage-and-bone defect (CPT 29891) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-29891-ankle-arthroscopy-to-remove-a-cartilage-and-bone-defect