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Procedure price report · Other OR therapeutic procedures on respiratory system

Lung airway scope exam with windpipe stent placement

CPT 31631the billing code this page is about

A scope is passed into the airways to place a stent that holds the windpipe open; any stretching of the narrowed area is included.

Hospitals typically charge $4,544 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 679 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $4,802. Most fall between $1,061 and $8,810 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
679
States
49
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 679 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
$429$1,711$4,544$8,152$11,249

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 26× what the cheapest tenth charges ($429 vs $11,249).

How the prices are spread

$370 – $534: 46 hospitals$370$534 – $770: 39 hospitals$770 – $1,111: 21 hospitals$770$1,111 – $1,602: 27 hospitals$1,602 – $2,312: 32 hospitals$1,602$2,312 – $3,336: 74 hospitals$3,336 – $4,813: 86 hospitals$3,336$4,813 – $6,944: 99 hospitals$6,944 – $10,019: 138 hospitals$6,944$10,019 – $14,455: 51 hospitals$10,019median $4,544price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (613 of 679 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$370$53446
$534$77039
$770$1,11121
$1,111$1,60227
$1,602$2,31232
$2,312$3,33674
$3,336$4,81386
$4,813$6,94499
$6,944$10,019138
$10,019$14,45551

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$7,210
Median cash price$4,544
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.63×

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 $4,544.

Alaska: 2 hospitals 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: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $3,218 across 10 hospitalsWA$3,218Idaho: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $2,543 across 30 hospitalsIL$2,543Wisconsin: median $8,849 across 11 hospitalsWI$8,849Michigan: median $630 across 14 hospitalsMI$630New York: median $8,192 across 29 hospitalsNY$8,192Massachusetts: median $5,330 across 11 hospitalsMA$5,330Oregon: median $419 across 11 hospitalsOR$419Nevada: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: median $574 across 18 hospitalsIA$574Indiana: median $966 across 20 hospitalsIN$966Ohio: median $4,458 across 44 hospitalsOH$4,458Pennsylvania: median $8,117 across 36 hospitalsPA$8,117New Jersey: median $5,855 across 35 hospitalsNJ$5,855Connecticut: 6 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 $6,718 across 60 hospitalsCA$6,718Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $5,520 across 22 hospitalsCO$5,520Nebraska: median $3,203 across 10 hospitalsNE$3,203Missouri: median $4,796 across 13 hospitalsMO$4,796Kentucky: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $13,178 across 10 hospitalsVA$13,178Maryland: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $2,270 across 13 hospitalsTN$2,270North Carolina: median $2,588 across 11 hospitalsNC$2,588South Carolina: median $11,249 across 17 hospitalsSC$11,249Oklahoma: median $370 across 14 hospitalsOK$370Louisiana: median $2,846 across 11 hospitalsLA$2,846Mississippi: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $6,223 across 32 hospitalsGA$6,223Hawaii: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $4,154 across 52 hospitalsTX$4,154Florida: median $6,676 across 56 hospitalsFL$6,676
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $4,544. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Virginia VA10$13,178+190%$2,706 – $13,178
South Carolina SC17$11,249+148%$5,357 – $11,249
Wisconsin WI11$8,849+95%$7,995 – $8,849
New York NY29$8,192+80%$710 – $8,377
Pennsylvania PA36$8,117+79%$2,397 – $8,419
California CA60$6,718+48%$4,910 – $9,094
Florida FL56$6,676+47%$3,809 – $8,593
Georgia GA32$6,223+37%$2,852 – $12,230
New Jersey NJ35$5,855+29%$3,786 – $8,152
Colorado CO22$5,520+21%$2,061 – $6,065
Massachusetts MA11$5,330+17%$3,710 – $18,909
Missouri MO13$4,796+6%$1,957 – $16,104
Ohio OH44$4,458−2%$3,596 – $6,769
Texas TX52$4,154−9%$1,540 – $4,662
Washington WA10$3,218−29%$3,218 – $3,544
Nebraska NE10$3,203−30%$437 – $3,260
Louisiana LA11$2,846−37%$1,247 – $6,839
North Carolina NC11$2,588−43%$2,263 – $3,104
Illinois IL30$2,543−44%$429 – $3,079
Tennessee TN13$2,270−50%$225 – $8,226
Indiana IN20$966−79%$429 – $1,374
Michigan MI14$630−86%$448 – $9,704
Iowa IA18$574−87%$574 – $1,868
Oregon OR11$419−91%$406 – $419
Oklahoma OK14$370−92%$370 – $7,580
Mississippi MS8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME1not 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 $4,544.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care604$4,795$1,521 – $8,810
Children’s12fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access59$1,523$463 – $8,849
Ownership
For-profit66$3,518$966 – $7,430
Government95$4,662$987 – $8,192
Non-profit514$4,662$1,083 – $8,849
System affiliation
Part of a system595$4,662$1,234 – $8,849
Independent84$3,223$563 – $7,896

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$7,792
Median cash price$4,544
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

503 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $4,290 and the average of the middle 60% is $4,621; most fall between $981 and $8,887.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 503 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
$442$1,766$4,290$8,042$11,703

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 26× what the cheapest tenth charges ($442 vs $11,703).

Of the 533 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 503 gave a usable cash price; 20 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 10 a list price only.

How complete is this

679 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (17%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 729 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted679
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) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded9
Hospitals that filed this code729

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 23, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Related procedures

Part of the Other OR therapeutic procedures on respiratory system family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Bronchoscopy W/Placement Tracheal Stent.

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, “Lung airway scope exam with windpipe stent placement (CPT 31631) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-31631-lung-airway-scope-exam-with-windpipe-stent-placement