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Procedure price report · Tracheoscopy and laryngoscopy with biopsy

Direct exam of the voice box to suction out material

CPT 31515the billing code this page is about

A rigid scope is placed through the mouth to view the voice box and suction secretions or other material from the airway.

Hospitals typically charge $619 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 763 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $812. Most fall between $302 and $2,115 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
763
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 763 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
$231$361$619$1,515$3,272

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 14× what the cheapest tenth charges ($231 vs $3,272).

How the prices are spread

$177 – $240: 45 hospitals$177$240 – $326: 85 hospitals$326 – $443: 93 hospitals$326$443 – $601: 115 hospitals$601 – $816: 80 hospitals$601$816 – $1,107: 47 hospitals$1,107 – $1,503: 68 hospitals$1,107$1,503 – $2,040: 28 hospitals$2,040 – $2,768: 70 hospitals$2,040$2,768 – $3,758: 56 hospitals$2,768median $619price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (687 of 763 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$177$24045
$240$32685
$326$44393
$443$601115
$601$81680
$816$1,10747
$1,107$1,50368
$1,503$2,04028
$2,040$2,76870
$2,768$3,75856

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$400
Median cash price$619
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.55×

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 $619.

Alaska: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $746 across 30 hospitalsWA$746Idaho: median $1,087 across 10 hospitalsID$1,087Montana: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $330 across 14 hospitalsMN$330Illinois: median $474 across 27 hospitalsIL$474Wisconsin: median $675 across 23 hospitalsWI$675Michigan: median $289 across 27 hospitalsMI$289New York: median $464 across 50 hospitalsNY$464Massachusetts: median $1,123 across 13 hospitalsMA$1,123Oregon: median $421 across 31 hospitalsOR$421Nevada: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 4 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 $508 across 28 hospitalsIA$508Indiana: median $673 across 22 hospitalsIN$673Ohio: median $473 across 34 hospitalsOH$473Pennsylvania: median $541 across 45 hospitalsPA$541New Jersey: median $3,786 across 29 hospitalsNJ$3,786Connecticut: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $2,088 across 76 hospitalsCA$2,088Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: median $754 across 17 hospitalsNE$754Missouri: median $1,242 across 15 hospitalsMO$1,242Kentucky: 5 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 $674 across 14 hospitalsVA$674Maryland: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 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 $2,515 across 16 hospitalsNC$2,515South Carolina: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $183 across 16 hospitalsOK$183Louisiana: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $486 across 18 hospitalsGA$486Hawaii: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $2,115 across 39 hospitalsTX$2,115Florida: median $999 across 21 hospitalsFL$999
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $619. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
New Jersey NJ29$3,786+512%$430 – $5,855
North Carolina NC16$2,515+306%$1,304 – $2,515
Texas TX39$2,115+242%$437 – $2,115
California CA76$2,088+237%$483 – $3,758
Missouri MO15$1,242+101%$229 – $1,242
Massachusetts MA13$1,123+81%$700 – $3,351
Idaho ID10$1,087+76%$1,087 – $2,279
Florida FL21$999+61%$250 – $3,194
Nebraska NE17$754+22%$288 – $1,480
Washington WA30$746+20%$283 – $1,262
Wisconsin WI23$675+9%$540 – $1,204
Virginia VA14$674+9%$348 – $3,272
Indiana IN22$673+9%$258 – $909
Pennsylvania PA45$541−13%$84 – $1,276
Iowa IA28$508−18%$382 – $624
Georgia GA18$486−21%$447 – $1,127
Illinois IL27$474−23%$255 – $1,339
Ohio OH34$473−24%$455 – $2,448
New York NY50$464−25%$325 – $1,346
Oregon OR31$421−32%$391 – $778
Minnesota MN14$330−47%$255 – $1,310
Michigan MI27$289−53%$289 – $538
Oklahoma OK16$183−70%$183 – $183
Kansas KS9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD2not 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 $619.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care610$656$312 – $2,330
Children’s14fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access138$540$261 – $1,091
Ownership
For-profit69$662$277 – $2,478
Government129$569$285 – $1,675
Non-profit564$609$311 – $2,115
System affiliation
Part of a system615$643$306 – $2,115
Independent148$564$249 – $1,675

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$1,088
Median cash price$619
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

548 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $754 and the average of the middle 60% is $951; most fall between $314 and $2,395.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 548 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
$231$389$754$2,061$3,272

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 14× what the cheapest tenth charges ($231 vs $3,272).

Of the 600 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 548 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 36 a list price only.

How complete is this

763 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (19%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 843 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted763
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here40
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 code843

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 Tracheoscopy and laryngoscopy with biopsy family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as PR Laryngoscopy,Direct for Aspiration.

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, “Direct exam of the voice box to suction out material (CPT 31515) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-31515-direct-exam-of-the-voice-box-to-suction-out-material