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Procedure price report · Other non-OR therapeutic procedures on respiratory system

Needle puncture of the windpipe for aspiration or injection

CPT 31612the billing code this page is about

A needle is passed through the skin into the trachea to draw out secretions or instill medication.

Hospitals typically charge $4,281 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 272 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $4,632. Most fall between $1,670 and $8,830 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
272
States
43
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 272 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
$230$2,400$4,281$6,839$11,777

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 51× what the cheapest tenth charges ($230 vs $11,777).

How the prices are spread

$213 – $323: 24 hospitals$213$323 – $490: 3 hospitals$490 – $744: 4 hospitals$490$744 – $1,129: 7 hospitals$1,129 – $1,713: 5 hospitals$1,129$1,713 – $2,599: 19 hospitals$2,599 – $3,944: 48 hospitals$2,599$3,944 – $5,985: 59 hospitals$5,985 – $9,083: 39 hospitals$5,985$9,083 – $13,783: 42 hospitals$9,083median $4,281price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (250 of 272 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$213$32324
$323$4903
$490$7444
$744$1,1297
$1,129$1,7135
$1,713$2,59919
$2,599$3,94448
$3,944$5,98559
$5,985$9,08339
$9,083$13,78342

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$3,387
Median cash price$4,281
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.26×

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 $4,281.

Alaska: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNHWashington: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMTNorth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureILWisconsin: median $6,178 across 10 hospitalsWI$6,178Michigan: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMINew York: median $3,838 across 18 hospitalsNY$3,838Massachusetts: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: median $213 across 16 hospitalsIA$213Indiana: median $4,595 across 12 hospitalsIN$4,595Ohio: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureOHPennsylvania: median $4,104 across 13 hospitalsPA$4,104New Jersey: median $4,350 across 25 hospitalsNJ$4,350Connecticut: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $11,777 across 37 hospitalsCA$11,777Utah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: median $13,783 across 11 hospitalsAZ$13,783New Mexico: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceKSArkansas: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureOKLouisiana: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $18,857 across 11 hospitalsGA$18,857Hawaii: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $4,281 across 27 hospitalsTX$4,281Florida: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $4,281. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Georgia GA11$18,857+340%$875 – $18,857
Arizona AZ11$13,783+222%$5,561 – $13,783
California CA37$11,777+175%$8,830 – $11,777
Wisconsin WI10$6,178+44%$2,400 – $6,178
Indiana IN12$4,595+7%$4,045 – $6,211
New Jersey NJ25$4,350+2%$3,590 – $5,855
Texas TX27$4,2810%$2,053 – $6,472
Pennsylvania PA13$4,104−4%$3,802 – $6,111
New York NY18$3,838−10%$3,838 – $4,139
Iowa IA16$213−95%$213 – $256
Oklahoma OK7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Illinois IL6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Michigan MI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Ohio OH3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY1not 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 $4,281.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care235$4,281$2,053 – $9,377
Children’s4fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access33$4,621$875 – $6,472
Ownership
For-profit24$5,269$4,474 – $13,783
Government37$2,845$275 – $6,934
Non-profit211$4,281$2,053 – $8,830
System affiliation
Part of a system240$4,350$2,053 – $8,830
Independent32$2,780$249 – $5,561

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$3,860
Median cash price$4,281
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

184 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $3,848 and the average of the middle 60% is $5,009; most fall between $213 and $11,777.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 184 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
$160$249$3,848$8,830$11,932

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 75× what the cheapest tenth charges ($160 vs $11,932).

Of the 241 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 184 gave a usable cash price; 53 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 4 a list price only.

How complete is this

272 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (7%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 389 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted272
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here112
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded4
Hospitals that filed this code389

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 non-OR therapeutic procedures on respiratory system family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Tracheal Pnxr Perq W/Transtracheal Aspir&/Njx.

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, “Needle puncture of the windpipe for aspiration or injection (CPT 31612) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-31612-needle-puncture-of-the-windpipe-for-aspiration-or-injection