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Procedure price report · Tracheoscopy and laryngoscopy with biopsy

Voice box scope with tissue sample

CPT 31535the billing code this page is about

A rigid scope is placed into the throat in the operating room and a tissue sample is taken from the voice box for laboratory examination.

Hospitals typically charge $3,171 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 787 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,847. Most fall between $467 and $6,534 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
787
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 787 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
$339$575$3,171$5,339$10,405

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 31× what the cheapest tenth charges ($339 vs $10,405).

How the prices are spread

$281 – $416: 93 hospitals$281$416 – $615: 72 hospitals$615 – $911: 74 hospitals$615$911 – $1,348: 29 hospitals$1,348 – $1,994: 24 hospitals$1,348$1,994 – $2,951: 58 hospitals$2,951 – $4,368: 131 hospitals$2,951$4,368 – $6,463: 108 hospitals$6,463 – $9,565: 55 hospitals$6,463$9,565 – $14,154: 65 hospitals$9,565median $3,171price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (709 of 787 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$281$41693
$416$61572
$615$91174
$911$1,34829
$1,348$1,99424
$1,994$2,95158
$2,951$4,368131
$4,368$6,463108
$6,463$9,56555
$9,565$14,15465

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$3,809
Median cash price$3,171
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 $3,171.

Alaska: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 7 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 $575 across 11 hospitalsWA$575Idaho: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $2,088 across 27 hospitalsMN$2,088Illinois: median $1,112 across 38 hospitalsIL$1,112Wisconsin: median $1,900 across 37 hospitalsWI$1,900Michigan: median $666 across 38 hospitalsMI$666New York: median $4,363 across 55 hospitalsNY$4,363Massachusetts: median $3,964 across 11 hospitalsMA$3,964Oregon: median $489 across 19 hospitalsOR$489Nevada: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $467 across 25 hospitalsIA$467Indiana: median $834 across 24 hospitalsIN$834Ohio: median $5,342 across 34 hospitalsOH$5,342Pennsylvania: median $5,725 across 21 hospitalsPA$5,725New Jersey: median $4,350 across 32 hospitalsNJ$4,350Connecticut: 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 $6,070 across 54 hospitalsCA$6,070Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $3,412 across 15 hospitalsCO$3,412Nebraska: median $683 across 11 hospitalsNE$683Missouri: median $6,409 across 23 hospitalsMO$6,409Kentucky: median $290 across 10 hospitalsKY$290West Virginia: median $2,665 across 13 hospitalsWV$2,665Virginia: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $1,170 across 10 hospitalsKS$1,170Arkansas: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $440 across 11 hospitalsTN$440North Carolina: median $1,992 across 12 hospitalsNC$1,992South Carolina: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $396 across 17 hospitalsOK$396Louisiana: median $2,262 across 21 hospitalsLA$2,262Mississippi: median $587 across 12 hospitalsMS$587Alabama: median $3,327 across 10 hospitalsAL$3,327Georgia: median $4,189 across 23 hospitalsGA$4,189Hawaii: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $3,825 across 46 hospitalsTX$3,825Florida: median $3,908 across 22 hospitalsFL$3,908
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $3,171. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Missouri MO23$6,409+102%$301 – $10,998
California CA54$6,070+91%$1,571 – $10,405
Pennsylvania PA21$5,725+81%$371 – $7,940
Ohio OH34$5,342+68%$573 – $12,803
New York NY55$4,363+38%$578 – $4,595
New Jersey NJ32$4,350+37%$4,081 – $5,339
Georgia GA23$4,189+32%$428 – $4,189
Massachusetts MA11$3,964+25%$3,704 – $7,404
Florida FL22$3,908+23%$1,322 – $4,067
Texas TX46$3,825+21%$3,237 – $6,469
Colorado CO15$3,412+8%$398 – $4,456
Alabama AL10$3,327+5%$619 – $7,183
West Virginia WV13$2,665−16%$527 – $4,644
Louisiana LA21$2,262−29%$1,528 – $4,690
Minnesota MN27$2,088−34%$454 – $2,111
North Carolina NC12$1,992−37%$510 – $8,763
Wisconsin WI37$1,900−40%$876 – $3,863
Kansas KS10$1,170−63%$326 – $5,558
Illinois IL38$1,112−65%$383 – $6,847
Indiana IN24$834−74%$383 – $2,625
Nebraska NE11$683−78%$572 – $3,753
Michigan MI38$666−79%$321 – $5,127
Mississippi MS12$587−81%$513 – $2,943
Washington WA11$575−82%$353 – $7,662
Oregon OR19$489−85%$346 – $7,139
Iowa IA25$467−85%$416 – $1,711
Tennessee TN11$440−86%$236 – $3,939
Oklahoma OK17$396−88%$396 – $6,671
Kentucky KY10$290−91%$191 – $383
Arkansas AR9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD1not 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 $3,171.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care634$3,786$575 – $7,506
Children’s9fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access142$617$369 – $2,233
Ownership
For-profit93$4,323$910 – $9,904
Government126$1,098$355 – $4,363
Non-profit566$2,924$467 – $6,581
System affiliation
Part of a system635$3,471$520 – $6,906
Independent152$974$369 – $4,692

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$3,746
Median cash price$3,171
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

413 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,091 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,970; most fall between $359 and $4,763.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 413 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
$266$396$1,091$4,210$7,940

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 30× what the cheapest tenth charges ($266 vs $7,940).

Of the 443 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 413 gave a usable cash price; 12 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

787 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (20%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 861 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted787
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here49
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded3
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded22
Hospitals that filed this code861

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 Laryngoscopy Direct Operative W/Biopsy.

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, “Voice box scope with tissue sample (CPT 31535) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-31535-voice-box-scope-with-tissue-sample