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Procedure price report · Nonoperative removal of foreign body

Mirror exam of the voice box with foreign body removal

CPT 31511the billing code this page is about

Indirect viewing of the larynx using a mirror or scope held in the mouth, with removal of a foreign object.

Hospitals typically charge $328 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 842 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $347. Most fall between $207 and $614 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
842
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 842 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
$156$222$328$520$989

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.3× what the cheapest tenth charges ($156 vs $989).

How the prices are spread

$111 – $146: 37 hospitals$111$146 – $192: 50 hospitals$192 – $252: 171 hospitals$192$252 – $330: 126 hospitals$330 – $434: 134 hospitals$330$434 – $569: 96 hospitals$569 – $747: 63 hospitals$569$747 – $981: 42 hospitals$981 – $1,288: 21 hospitals$981$1,288 – $1,691: 24 hospitals$1,288median $328price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (764 of 842 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$111$14637
$146$19250
$192$252171
$252$330126
$330$434134
$434$56996
$569$74763
$747$98142
$981$1,28821
$1,288$1,69124

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$204
Median cash price$328
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.61×

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 $328.

Alaska: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $353 across 31 hospitalsWA$353Idaho: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $325 across 20 hospitalsMN$325Illinois: median $318 across 46 hospitalsIL$318Wisconsin: median $335 across 23 hospitalsWI$335Michigan: median $443 across 26 hospitalsMI$443New York: median $303 across 49 hospitalsNY$303Massachusetts: median $499 across 16 hospitalsMA$499Oregon: median $381 across 26 hospitalsOR$381Nevada: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $520 across 25 hospitalsIA$520Indiana: median $306 across 14 hospitalsIN$306Ohio: median $580 across 21 hospitalsOH$580Pennsylvania: median $185 across 35 hospitalsPA$185New Jersey: median $865 across 27 hospitalsNJ$865Connecticut: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $422 across 96 hospitalsCA$422Utah: median $881 across 12 hospitalsUT$881Colorado: median $453 across 16 hospitalsCO$453Nebraska: median $203 across 17 hospitalsNE$203Missouri: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $487 across 10 hospitalsVA$487Maryland: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $302 across 11 hospitalsKS$302Arkansas: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: median $200 across 20 hospitalsNC$200South Carolina: median $316 across 25 hospitalsSC$316Oklahoma: median $222 across 25 hospitalsOK$222Louisiana: median $182 across 16 hospitalsLA$182Mississippi: median $174 across 15 hospitalsMS$174Alabama: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $227 across 23 hospitalsGA$227Hawaii: median $407 across 10 hospitalsHI$407Texas: median $351 across 36 hospitalsTX$351Florida: median $296 across 29 hospitalsFL$296
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $328. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Utah UT12$881+168%$793 – $923
New Jersey NJ27$865+164%$215 – $5,339
Ohio OH21$580+77%$391 – $580
Iowa IA25$520+58%$173 – $520
Massachusetts MA16$499+52%$242 – $1,139
Virginia VA10$487+48%$438 – $1,673
Colorado CO16$453+38%$237 – $8,639
Michigan MI26$443+35%$252 – $470
California CA96$422+29%$226 – $879
Hawaii HI10$407+24%$255 – $454
Oregon OR26$381+16%$309 – $506
Washington WA31$353+8%$261 – $449
Texas TX36$351+7%$111 – $430
Wisconsin WI23$335+2%$219 – $648
Minnesota MN20$325−1%$243 – $383
Illinois IL46$318−3%$226 – $872
South Carolina SC25$316−4%$295 – $400
Indiana IN14$306−7%$259 – $1,038
New York NY49$303−8%$230 – $636
Kansas KS11$302−8%$269 – $2,035
Florida FL29$296−10%$296 – $725
Georgia GA23$227−31%$200 – $227
Oklahoma OK25$222−32%$209 – $266
Nebraska NE17$203−38%$99 – $281
North Carolina NC20$200−39%$160 – $300
Pennsylvania PA35$185−44%$86 – $397
Louisiana LA16$182−45%$132 – $348
Mississippi MS15$174−47%$83 – $330
Idaho ID9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI3not 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 $328.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care652$311$206 – $636
Children’s15fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access175$365$227 – $536
Ownership
For-profit82$295$217 – $656
Government135$300$200 – $518
Non-profit625$340$211 – $621
System affiliation
Part of a system686$338$212 – $645
Independent156$288$203 – $500

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$543
Median cash price$328
Cash as a share of list, median hospital60%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 40%. 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

628 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $351 and the average of the middle 60% is $366; most fall between $212 and $620.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 628 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
$158$226$351$536$950

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.0× what the cheapest tenth charges ($158 vs $950).

Of the 680 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 628 gave a usable cash price; 17 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 35 a list price only.

How complete is this

842 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 914 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted842
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here32
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded40
Hospitals that filed this code914

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 Nonoperative removal of foreign body family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as PR Laryngoscopy,Indirect+Remv for.Body.

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, “Mirror exam of the voice box with foreign body removal (CPT 31511) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-31511-mirror-exam-of-the-voice-box-with-foreign-body-removal