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Procedure price report · Other OR therapeutic procedures on respiratory system

Needle placement of an oxygen tube into the windpipe

CPT 31730the billing code this page is about

A needle and guidewire are used through the neck to place a small catheter, stent, or tube directly into the windpipe so oxygen can be delivered.

Hospitals typically charge $1,676 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 498 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,815. Most fall between $610 and $3,287 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
498
States
44
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 498 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
$307$842$1,676$2,945$4,388

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 14× what the cheapest tenth charges ($307 vs $4,388).

How the prices are spread

$244 – $333: 40 hospitals$244$333 – $456: 8 hospitals$456 – $624: 28 hospitals$456$624 – $854: 25 hospitals$854 – $1,168: 52 hospitals$854$1,168 – $1,599: 62 hospitals$1,599 – $2,188: 74 hospitals$1,599$2,188 – $2,993: 61 hospitals$2,993 – $4,096: 66 hospitals$2,993$4,096 – $5,605: 45 hospitals$4,096median $1,676price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (461 of 498 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$244$33340
$333$4568
$456$62428
$624$85425
$854$1,16852
$1,168$1,59962
$1,599$2,18874
$2,188$2,99361
$2,993$4,09666
$4,096$5,60545

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$1,818
Median cash price$1,676
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.92×

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 $1,676.

Alaska: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMEVermont: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $1,860 across 15 hospitalsWA$1,860Idaho: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $1,162 across 21 hospitalsIL$1,162Wisconsin: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWIMichigan: median $519 across 24 hospitalsMI$519New York: median $2,041 across 32 hospitalsNY$2,041Massachusetts: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $2,050 across 20 hospitalsOR$2,050Nevada: 2 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 $2,886 across 16 hospitalsIA$2,886Indiana: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureINOhio: median $741 across 11 hospitalsOH$741Pennsylvania: median $2,022 across 18 hospitalsPA$2,022New Jersey: median $4,350 across 25 hospitalsNJ$4,350Connecticut: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $3,287 across 64 hospitalsCA$3,287Utah: median $5,605 across 21 hospitalsUT$5,605Colorado: median $1,110 across 20 hospitalsCO$1,110Nebraska: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $1,122 across 13 hospitalsVA$1,122Maryland: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $244 across 14 hospitalsOK$244Louisiana: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceGAHawaii: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $1,584 across 43 hospitalsTX$1,584Florida: median $307 across 14 hospitalsFL$307
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,676. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Utah UT21$5,605+234%$5,605 – $5,605
New Jersey NJ25$4,350+160%$1,909 – $5,741
California CA64$3,287+96%$1,256 – $3,370
Iowa IA16$2,886+72%$2,886 – $2,886
Oregon OR20$2,050+22%$1,860 – $3,686
New York NY32$2,041+22%$860 – $2,340
Pennsylvania PA18$2,022+21%$96 – $2,915
Washington WA15$1,860+11%$311 – $3,339
Texas TX43$1,584−5%$971 – $2,126
Illinois IL21$1,162−31%$466 – $2,945
Virginia VA13$1,122−33%$725 – $1,295
Colorado CO20$1,110−34%$983 – $1,724
Ohio OH11$741−56%$554 – $1,503
Michigan MI24$519−69%$251 – $2,447
Florida FL14$307−82%$307 – $741
Oklahoma OK14$244−85%$244 – $1,898
Kansas KS9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Indiana IN5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wisconsin WI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV1not 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 $1,676.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care420$1,724$725 – $3,287
Children’s9fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access66$1,630$354 – $3,710
Ownership
For-profit39$1,162$656 – $3,200
Government61$1,731$460 – $2,250
Non-profit395$1,796$695 – $3,370
System affiliation
Part of a system433$1,815$776 – $3,370
Independent65$1,110$283 – $2,466

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,778
Median cash price$1,676
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

379 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,584 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,841; most fall between $503 and $3,370.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 379 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
$277$778$1,584$3,287$4,484

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 16× what the cheapest tenth charges ($277 vs $4,484).

Of the 407 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 379 gave a usable cash price; 14 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 14 a list price only.

How complete is this

498 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (13%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 537 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted498
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here24
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 code537

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 OR therapeutic procedures on respiratory system family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Ttrach Intro Ndl Wire Dil/Stent/Tube O2 Ther.

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 placement of an oxygen tube into the windpipe (CPT 31730) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-31730-needle-placement-of-an-oxygen-tube-into-the-windpipe