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Procedure price report · Other OR therapeutic procedures on respiratory system

Lung airway scope exam with balloon test for an air leak

CPT 31634the billing code this page is about

A scope is passed into the airways and a balloon is inflated to block a segment and locate an air leak, including sealing the leak if that is done in the same session.

Hospitals typically charge $5,412 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 542 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $5,754. Most fall between $2,218 and $10,364 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
542
States
48
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 542 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
$1,179$2,543$5,412$8,887$16,081

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 14× what the cheapest tenth charges ($1,179 vs $16,081).

How the prices are spread

$503 – $729: 11 hospitals$503$729 – $1,056: 13 hospitals$1,056 – $1,530: 20 hospitals$1,056$1,530 – $2,216: 39 hospitals$2,216 – $3,211: 55 hospitals$2,216$3,211 – $4,652: 71 hospitals$4,652 – $6,741: 88 hospitals$4,652$6,741 – $9,767: 104 hospitals$9,767 – $14,151: 50 hospitals$9,767$14,151 – $20,503: 40 hospitals$14,151median $5,412price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (491 of 542 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$503$72911
$729$1,05613
$1,056$1,53020
$1,530$2,21639
$2,216$3,21155
$3,211$4,65271
$4,652$6,74188
$6,741$9,767104
$9,767$14,15150
$14,151$20,50340

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$7,210
Median cash price$5,412
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.75×

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 $5,412.

Alaska: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMEVermont: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 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: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $3,079 across 25 hospitalsIL$3,079Wisconsin: median $2,399 across 26 hospitalsWI$2,399Michigan: median $3,914 across 12 hospitalsMI$3,914New York: median $8,192 across 31 hospitalsNY$8,192Massachusetts: median $5,539 across 10 hospitalsMA$5,539Oregon: median $2,900 across 13 hospitalsOR$2,900Nevada: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $4,189 across 19 hospitalsIA$4,189Indiana: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureINOhio: median $7,871 across 42 hospitalsOH$7,871Pennsylvania: median $10,750 across 22 hospitalsPA$10,750New Jersey: median $7,565 across 26 hospitalsNJ$7,565Connecticut: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $4,670 across 54 hospitalsCA$4,670Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $5,057 across 22 hospitalsCO$5,057Nebraska: median $2,580 across 10 hospitalsNE$2,580Missouri: median $3,986 across 15 hospitalsMO$3,986Kentucky: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $3,602 across 10 hospitalsVA$3,602Maryland: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMDDelaware: 1 hospital 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: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: median $2,316 across 10 hospitalsNC$2,316South Carolina: median $11,249 across 14 hospitalsSC$11,249Oklahoma: median $1,855 across 12 hospitalsOK$1,855Louisiana: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $8,887 across 10 hospitalsGA$8,887Hawaii: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $4,072 across 19 hospitalsTX$4,072Florida: median $10,018 across 38 hospitalsFL$10,018
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $5,412. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
South Carolina SC14$11,249+108%$2,171 – $11,249
Pennsylvania PA22$10,750+99%$7,215 – $16,200
Florida FL38$10,018+85%$4,468 – $14,537
Georgia GA10$8,887+64%$8,260 – $8,887
New York NY31$8,192+51%$3,107 – $8,377
Ohio OH42$7,871+45%$5,186 – $20,698
New Jersey NJ26$7,565+40%$5,110 – $8,152
Massachusetts MA10$5,539+2%$1,257 – $18,909
Colorado CO22$5,057−7%$1,715 – $6,721
California CA54$4,670−14%$3,778 – $6,718
Iowa IA19$4,189−23%$677 – $4,189
Texas TX19$4,072−25%$3,578 – $6,612
Missouri MO15$3,986−26%$2,911 – $7,666
Michigan MI12$3,914−28%$2,399 – $9,704
Virginia VA10$3,602−33%$1,467 – $8,586
Illinois IL25$3,079−43%$1,067 – $7,109
Oregon OR13$2,900−46%$337 – $6,043
Nebraska NE10$2,580−52%$1,080 – $4,382
Wisconsin WI26$2,399−56%$2,399 – $11,527
North Carolina NC10$2,316−57%$2,316 – $3,002
Oklahoma OK12$1,855−66%$1,855 – $1,855
Kentucky KY9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Indiana IN5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT1not 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 $5,412.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care464$5,656$2,316 – $10,018
Children’s13fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access62$4,189$2,139 – $16,081
Ownership
For-profit40$4,081$2,139 – $8,887
Government71$5,999$2,675 – $8,661
Non-profit428$5,539$2,398 – $10,908
System affiliation
Part of a system472$5,855$2,399 – $10,908
Independent70$4,328$910 – $7,389

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$8,873
Median cash price$5,412
Cash as a share of list, median hospital65%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 35%. 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

418 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $4,670 and the average of the middle 60% is $4,966; most fall between $1,855 and $10,364.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 418 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
$767$2,218$4,670$8,807$16,200

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 21× what the cheapest tenth charges ($767 vs $16,200).

Of the 460 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 418 gave a usable cash price; 27 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 15 a list price only.

How complete is this

542 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (14%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 602 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted542
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here45
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 — excluded14
Hospitals that filed this code602

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 Balloon Occlusion.

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 balloon test for an air leak (CPT 31634) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-31634-lung-airway-scope-exam-with-balloon-test-for-an-air-leak