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Procedure price report · Other OR therapeutic procedures on respiratory system

Lung airway scope exam with stent placement in one airway

CPT 31636the billing code this page is about

A scope is passed into the airways to place a stent that holds open a breathing tube leading to the lung; covers the first airway stented.

Hospitals typically charge $4,307 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 624 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $4,376. Most fall between $1,065 and $8,192 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
624
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 624 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
$447$1,492$4,307$7,292$13,052

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 29× what the cheapest tenth charges ($447 vs $13,052).

How the prices are spread

$304 – $454: 47 hospitals$304$454 – $679: 32 hospitals$679 – $1,013: 10 hospitals$679$1,013 – $1,513: 37 hospitals$1,513 – $2,260: 35 hospitals$1,513$2,260 – $3,375: 70 hospitals$3,375 – $5,040: 99 hospitals$3,375$5,040 – $7,527: 111 hospitals$7,527 – $11,240: 83 hospitals$7,527$11,240 – $16,786: 40 hospitals$11,240median $4,307price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (564 of 624 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$304$45447
$454$67932
$679$1,01310
$1,013$1,51337
$1,513$2,26035
$2,260$3,37570
$3,375$5,04099
$5,040$7,527111
$7,527$11,24083
$11,240$16,78640

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$7,210
Median cash price$4,307
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.60×

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 $4,307.

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: 3 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 $4,146 across 11 hospitalsWA$4,146Idaho: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $2,534 across 23 hospitalsIL$2,534Wisconsin: median $1,074 across 22 hospitalsWI$1,074Michigan: median $267 across 25 hospitalsMI$267New York: median $8,192 across 30 hospitalsNY$8,192Massachusetts: median $5,225 across 10 hospitalsMA$5,225Oregon: median $402 across 13 hospitalsOR$402Nevada: 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 $556 across 18 hospitalsIA$556Indiana: median $1,065 across 17 hospitalsIN$1,065Ohio: median $4,290 across 38 hospitalsOH$4,290Pennsylvania: median $8,117 across 33 hospitalsPA$8,117New Jersey: median $7,662 across 36 hospitalsNJ$7,662Connecticut: 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 $5,079 across 53 hospitalsCA$5,079Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $4,510 across 12 hospitalsCO$4,510Nebraska: median $3,244 across 11 hospitalsNE$3,244Missouri: median $4,586 across 11 hospitalsMO$4,586Kentucky: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: 7 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: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $2,270 across 16 hospitalsTN$2,270North Carolina: median $3,551 across 11 hospitalsNC$3,551South Carolina: median $4,493 across 17 hospitalsSC$4,493Oklahoma: median $453 across 13 hospitalsOK$453Louisiana: median $2,342 across 10 hospitalsLA$2,342Mississippi: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $3,034 across 31 hospitalsGA$3,034Hawaii: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $3,248 across 36 hospitalsTX$3,248Florida: median $4,704 across 34 hospitalsFL$4,704
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $4,307. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
New York NY30$8,192+90%$600 – $8,810
Pennsylvania PA33$8,117+88%$4,104 – $10,750
New Jersey NJ36$7,662+78%$4,881 – $9,131
Massachusetts MA10$5,225+21%$4,639 – $18,909
California CA53$5,079+18%$4,904 – $7,025
Florida FL34$4,704+9%$3,690 – $14,537
Missouri MO11$4,586+6%$1,983 – $6,800
Colorado CO12$4,510+5%$3,783 – $5,057
South Carolina SC17$4,493+4%$4,493 – $4,493
Ohio OH38$4,2900%$1,118 – $9,002
Washington WA11$4,146−4%$4,146 – $8,447
North Carolina NC11$3,551−18%$2,394 – $3,551
Texas TX36$3,248−25%$1,564 – $7,054
Nebraska NE11$3,244−25%$491 – $3,244
Georgia GA31$3,034−30%$2,182 – $13,052
Illinois IL23$2,534−41%$607 – $5,564
Louisiana LA10$2,342−46%$1,235 – $7,731
Tennessee TN16$2,270−47%$407 – $5,295
Wisconsin WI22$1,074−75%$1,074 – $6,989
Indiana IN17$1,065−75%$924 – $1,654
Iowa IA18$556−87%$556 – $3,244
Oklahoma OK13$453−89%$453 – $6,623
Oregon OR13$402−91%$389 – $3,197
Michigan MI25$267−94%$265 – $7,000
Virginia VA7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR3not 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
Vermont VT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS2not 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 $4,307.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care545$4,510$1,099 – $8,192
Children’s10fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access66$2,534$1,046 – $8,586
Ownership
For-profit47$3,193$1,049 – $9,032
Government81$3,851$1,570 – $8,192
Non-profit493$4,493$924 – $8,152
System affiliation
Part of a system545$4,493$1,074 – $8,192
Independent79$2,839$464 – $8,661

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$7,425
Median cash price$4,307
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

443 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $4,146 and the average of the middle 60% is $3,853; most fall between $861 and $7,156.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 443 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
$447$1,074$4,146$6,496$13,052

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 29× what the cheapest tenth charges ($447 vs $13,052).

Of the 485 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 443 gave a usable cash price; 25 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 17 a list price only.

How complete is this

624 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (16%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 686 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted624
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here46
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 — excluded15
Hospitals that filed this code686

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 Brnchsc W/Placement Brncl Stent 1st Bronchus.

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 stent placement in one airway (CPT 31636) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-31636-lung-airway-scope-exam-with-stent-placement-in-one-airway