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Procedure price report · Tracheostomy, temporary and permanent

Emergency tracheostomy through the windpipe

CPT 31603the billing code this page is about

An urgent surgical opening made directly into the trachea in the neck to secure breathing.

Hospitals typically charge $1,408 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,368 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,498. Most fall between $673 and $2,700 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,368
States
50
Filings dated
Jun 2024 – 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 1,368 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
$454$774$1,408$2,465$4,133

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.1× what the cheapest tenth charges ($454 vs $4,133).

How the prices are spread

$320 – $421: 44 hospitals$320$421 – $555: 88 hospitals$555 – $730: 117 hospitals$555$730 – $961: 143 hospitals$961 – $1,265: 143 hospitals$961$1,265 – $1,664: 202 hospitals$1,664 – $2,190: 139 hospitals$1,664$2,190 – $2,883: 173 hospitals$2,883 – $3,794: 92 hospitals$2,883$3,794 – $4,993: 92 hospitals$3,794median $1,408price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,233 of 1,368 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$320$42144
$421$55588
$555$730117
$730$961143
$961$1,265143
$1,265$1,664202
$1,664$2,190139
$2,190$2,883173
$2,883$3,79492
$3,794$4,99392

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$1,585
Median cash price$1,408
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.89×

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 $1,408.

Alaska: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $1,530 across 10 hospitalsME$1,530Vermont: 6 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 $1,255 across 40 hospitalsWA$1,255Idaho: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: median $951 across 11 hospitalsMT$951North Dakota: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $1,647 across 17 hospitalsMN$1,647Illinois: median $1,427 across 61 hospitalsIL$1,427Wisconsin: median $1,384 across 44 hospitalsWI$1,384Michigan: median $980 across 40 hospitalsMI$980New York: median $1,753 across 58 hospitalsNY$1,753Massachusetts: median $1,391 across 18 hospitalsMA$1,391Oregon: median $1,196 across 35 hospitalsOR$1,196Nevada: median $1,293 across 11 hospitalsNV$1,293Wyoming: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $800 across 38 hospitalsIA$800Indiana: median $784 across 37 hospitalsIN$784Ohio: median $1,822 across 54 hospitalsOH$1,822Pennsylvania: median $1,737 across 45 hospitalsPA$1,737New Jersey: median $4,627 across 39 hospitalsNJ$4,627Connecticut: median $1,630 across 10 hospitalsCT$1,630Rhode Island: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $2,524 across 118 hospitalsCA$2,524Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $1,701 across 30 hospitalsCO$1,701Nebraska: median $742 across 26 hospitalsNE$742Missouri: median $887 across 34 hospitalsMO$887Kentucky: median $1,348 across 22 hospitalsKY$1,348West Virginia: median $1,474 across 15 hospitalsWV$1,474Virginia: median $1,087 across 45 hospitalsVA$1,087Maryland: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: median $895 across 11 hospitalsNM$895Kansas: median $1,107 across 16 hospitalsKS$1,107Arkansas: median $713 across 14 hospitalsAR$713Tennessee: median $404 across 29 hospitalsTN$404North Carolina: median $1,210 across 37 hospitalsNC$1,210South Carolina: median $1,741 across 12 hospitalsSC$1,741Oklahoma: median $902 across 35 hospitalsOK$902Louisiana: median $737 across 33 hospitalsLA$737Mississippi: median $806 across 19 hospitalsMS$806Alabama: median $964 across 12 hospitalsAL$964Georgia: median $878 across 57 hospitalsGA$878Hawaii: median $1,761 across 11 hospitalsHI$1,761Texas: median $2,011 across 102 hospitalsTX$2,011Florida: median $1,270 across 51 hospitalsFL$1,270
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,408. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
New Jersey NJ39$4,627+229%$1,744 – $5,992
California CA118$2,524+79%$1,601 – $4,133
Texas TX102$2,011+43%$1,388 – $2,970
Ohio OH54$1,822+29%$774 – $4,429
Hawaii HI11$1,761+25%$320 – $3,717
New York NY58$1,753+25%$920 – $3,205
South Carolina SC12$1,741+24%$1,603 – $4,608
Pennsylvania PA45$1,737+23%$241 – $4,304
Colorado CO30$1,701+21%$1,041 – $2,510
Minnesota MN17$1,647+17%$678 – $2,300
Connecticut CT10$1,630+16%$1,284 – $1,949
Maine ME10$1,530+9%$527 – $1,714
West Virginia WV15$1,474+5%$400 – $3,535
Illinois IL61$1,427+1%$600 – $2,365
Massachusetts MA18$1,391−1%$862 – $2,662
Wisconsin WI44$1,384−2%$570 – $1,475
Kentucky KY22$1,348−4%$499 – $2,702
Nevada NV11$1,293−8%$940 – $1,687
Florida FL51$1,270−10%$814 – $4,911
Washington WA40$1,255−11%$565 – $2,718
North Carolina NC37$1,210−14%$730 – $2,436
Oregon OR35$1,196−15%$652 – $3,232
Kansas KS16$1,107−21%$693 – $1,514
Virginia VA45$1,087−23%$681 – $2,505
Michigan MI40$980−30%$801 – $2,298
Alabama AL12$964−32%$709 – $1,696
Montana MT11$951−32%$534 – $1,205
Oklahoma OK35$902−36%$529 – $1,760
New Mexico NM11$895−36%$509 – $1,091
Missouri MO34$887−37%$524 – $2,582
Georgia GA57$878−38%$714 – $1,350
Mississippi MS19$806−43%$411 – $1,495
Iowa IA38$800−43%$480 – $1,408
Indiana IN37$784−44%$454 – $1,633
Nebraska NE26$742−47%$627 – $1,089
Louisiana LA33$737−48%$427 – $1,020
Arkansas AR14$713−49%$397 – $1,550
Tennessee TN29$404−71%$242 – $1,181
North Dakota ND9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD2not 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 $1,408.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,041$1,530$715 – $3,039
Children’s15fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access307$1,061$536 – $2,298
Ownership
For-profit144$1,389$715 – $3,097
Government241$1,156$524 – $2,436
Non-profit978$1,461$698 – $2,874
System affiliation
Part of a system1,126$1,481$728 – $2,874
Independent242$1,008$499 – $2,178

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,428
Median cash price$1,408
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

1,049 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,457 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,586; most fall between $715 and $2,900.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,049 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
$471$800$1,457$2,590$4,133

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.8× what the cheapest tenth charges ($471 vs $4,133).

Of the 1,136 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,049 gave a usable cash price; 33 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 54 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,368 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (35%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,485 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,368
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here58
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 — excluded59
Hospitals that filed this code1,485

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 Tracheostomy, temporary and permanent family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Tracheostomy Emergency Procedure Transtracheal.

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, “Emergency tracheostomy through the windpipe (CPT 31603) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-31603-emergency-tracheostomy-through-the-windpipe