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Procedure price report · Incision of pleura, thoracentesis, chest drainage

Chest tube insertion to drain air or fluid

CPT 32551the billing code this page is about

A tube is placed through the chest wall into the space around the lung to drain fluid or air, connected to a water-seal drainage system.

Hospitals typically charge $1,165 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,828 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,228. Most fall between $461 and $2,343 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,828
States
50
Filings dated
Aug 2022 – 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 2,828 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
$304$545$1,165$2,011$3,440

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($304 vs $3,440).

How the prices are spread

$231 – $311: 160 hospitals$231$311 – $419: 195 hospitals$419 – $566: 252 hospitals$419$566 – $763: 230 hospitals$763 – $1,029: 290 hospitals$763$1,029 – $1,388: 319 hospitals$1,388 – $1,872: 466 hospitals$1,388$1,872 – $2,525: 277 hospitals$2,525 – $3,405: 213 hospitals$2,525$3,405 – $4,593: 148 hospitals$3,405median $1,165price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,550 of 2,828 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$231$311160
$311$419195
$419$566252
$566$763230
$763$1,029290
$1,029$1,388319
$1,388$1,872466
$1,872$2,525277
$2,525$3,405213
$3,405$4,593148

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$1,608
Median cash price$1,165
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.72×

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 $1,165.

Alaska: median $1,014 across 17 hospitalsAK$1,014Maine: median $733 across 22 hospitalsME$733Vermont: median $795 across 11 hospitalsVT$795New Hampshire: median $403 across 18 hospitalsNH$403Washington: median $945 across 76 hospitalsWA$945Idaho: median $1,120 across 20 hospitalsID$1,120Montana: median $391 across 30 hospitalsMT$391North Dakota: median $1,233 across 24 hospitalsND$1,233Minnesota: median $930 across 100 hospitalsMN$930Illinois: median $1,231 across 115 hospitalsIL$1,231Wisconsin: median $795 across 88 hospitalsWI$795Michigan: median $1,030 across 81 hospitalsMI$1,030New York: median $1,838 across 98 hospitalsNY$1,838Massachusetts: median $1,660 across 40 hospitalsMA$1,660Oregon: median $580 across 52 hospitalsOR$580Nevada: median $1,122 across 20 hospitalsNV$1,122Wyoming: median $796 across 15 hospitalsWY$796South Dakota: median $624 across 32 hospitalsSD$624Iowa: median $538 across 78 hospitalsIA$538Indiana: median $1,351 across 71 hospitalsIN$1,351Ohio: median $1,778 across 127 hospitalsOH$1,778Pennsylvania: median $2,062 across 120 hospitalsPA$2,062New Jersey: median $2,252 across 56 hospitalsNJ$2,252Connecticut: median $1,349 across 19 hospitalsCT$1,349Rhode Island: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $2,058 across 175 hospitalsCA$2,058Utah: median $2,853 across 31 hospitalsUT$2,853Colorado: median $1,030 across 61 hospitalsCO$1,030Nebraska: median $542 across 63 hospitalsNE$542Missouri: median $902 across 65 hospitalsMO$902Kentucky: median $1,582 across 58 hospitalsKY$1,582West Virginia: median $1,502 across 39 hospitalsWV$1,502Virginia: median $1,265 across 59 hospitalsVA$1,265Maryland: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $1,932 across 32 hospitalsAZ$1,932New Mexico: median $867 across 29 hospitalsNM$867Kansas: median $484 across 75 hospitalsKS$484Arkansas: median $563 across 36 hospitalsAR$563Tennessee: median $491 across 58 hospitalsTN$491North Carolina: median $745 across 58 hospitalsNC$745South Carolina: median $1,135 across 43 hospitalsSC$1,135Oklahoma: median $623 across 65 hospitalsOK$623Louisiana: median $694 across 47 hospitalsLA$694Mississippi: median $515 across 51 hospitalsMS$515Alabama: median $893 across 35 hospitalsAL$893Georgia: median $1,114 across 100 hospitalsGA$1,114Hawaii: median $1,711 across 18 hospitalsHI$1,711Texas: median $1,573 across 173 hospitalsTX$1,573Florida: median $1,807 across 110 hospitalsFL$1,807
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,165. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Utah UT31$2,853+145%$1,667 – $3,356
New Jersey NJ56$2,252+93%$1,719 – $4,627
Pennsylvania PA120$2,062+77%$784 – $2,636
California CA175$2,058+77%$853 – $3,662
Arizona AZ32$1,932+66%$385 – $6,308
New York NY98$1,838+58%$449 – $2,535
Florida FL110$1,807+55%$786 – $3,238
Ohio OH127$1,778+53%$961 – $3,063
Hawaii HI18$1,711+47%$705 – $3,172
Massachusetts MA40$1,660+42%$797 – $4,168
Kentucky KY58$1,582+36%$594 – $2,207
Texas TX173$1,573+35%$952 – $2,278
West Virginia WV39$1,502+29%$453 – $2,486
Indiana IN71$1,351+16%$522 – $1,859
Connecticut CT19$1,349+16%$810 – $2,262
Virginia VA59$1,265+9%$699 – $1,811
North Dakota ND24$1,233+6%$326 – $2,162
Illinois IL115$1,231+6%$625 – $1,958
South Carolina SC43$1,135−3%$870 – $2,501
Nevada NV20$1,122−4%$740 – $1,712
Idaho ID20$1,120−4%$346 – $3,542
Georgia GA100$1,114−4%$405 – $3,190
Colorado CO61$1,030−12%$446 – $2,073
Michigan MI81$1,030−12%$336 – $1,560
Alaska AK17$1,014−13%$555 – $2,055
Washington WA76$945−19%$416 – $1,747
Minnesota MN100$930−20%$513 – $1,390
Missouri MO65$902−23%$406 – $1,898
Alabama AL35$893−23%$549 – $2,073
New Mexico NM29$867−26%$449 – $2,121
Wyoming WY15$796−32%$202 – $1,060
Vermont VT11$795−32%$289 – $2,126
Wisconsin WI88$795−32%$535 – $1,701
North Carolina NC58$745−36%$539 – $1,526
Maine ME22$733−37%$311 – $947
Louisiana LA47$694−40%$417 – $1,832
South Dakota SD32$624−46%$405 – $1,140
Oklahoma OK65$623−47%$426 – $1,476
Oregon OR52$580−50%$322 – $1,531
Arkansas AR36$563−52%$449 – $1,094
Nebraska NE63$542−53%$357 – $1,357
Iowa IA78$538−54%$318 – $1,221
Mississippi MS51$515−56%$265 – $1,200
Tennessee TN58$491−58%$290 – $1,414
Kansas KS75$484−58%$274 – $1,239
New Hampshire NH18$403−65%$302 – $757
Montana MT30$391−66%$229 – $941
Delaware DE6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD5not 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 $1,165.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,953$1,449$580 – $2,702
Children’s46$1,665$984 – $2,709
Critical access820$670$336 – $1,447
Ownership
For-profit293$1,672$733 – $4,028
Government564$716$350 – $1,578
Non-profit1,962$1,265$506 – $2,400
System affiliation
Part of a system2,264$1,298$520 – $2,486
Independent564$774$341 – $1,733

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$1,981
Median cash price$1,165
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

2,123 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,269 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,321; most fall between $524 and $2,472.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,123 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
$325$629$1,269$2,097$3,374

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 10× what the cheapest tenth charges ($325 vs $3,374).

Of the 2,286 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,123 gave a usable cash price; 65 carried a plausibility flag, 1 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 97 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,828 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (71%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,045 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,828
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here101
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded6
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded109
Hospitals that filed this code3,045

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 July 20, 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 Incision of pleura, thoracentesis, chest drainage family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Tube Thoracostomy Includes Water Seal.

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, “Chest tube insertion to drain air or fluid (CPT 32551) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-32551-chest-tube-insertion-to-drain-air-or-fluid