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

Needle drainage of fluid around the lung with imaging

CPT 32555the billing code this page is about

A needle or catheter is passed through the chest wall to draw off fluid from the space around the lung, guided by ultrasound or other imaging.

Hospitals typically charge $1,067 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,933 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,130. Most fall between $500 and $2,002 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,933
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 2,933 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
$282$605$1,067$1,793$2,895

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 10× what the cheapest tenth charges ($282 vs $2,895).

How the prices are spread

$182 – $246: 98 hospitals$182$246 – $332: 105 hospitals$332 – $448: 169 hospitals$332$448 – $605: 216 hospitals$605 – $817: 361 hospitals$605$817 – $1,102: 403 hospitals$1,102 – $1,488: 470 hospitals$1,102$1,488 – $2,009: 384 hospitals$2,009 – $2,713: 238 hospitals$2,009$2,713 – $3,663: 198 hospitals$2,713median $1,067price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,642 of 2,933 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$182$24698
$246$332105
$332$448169
$448$605216
$605$817361
$817$1,102403
$1,102$1,488470
$1,488$2,009384
$2,009$2,713238
$2,713$3,663198

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$641
Median cash price$1,067
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.67×

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 $1,067.

Alaska: median $1,587 across 15 hospitalsAK$1,587Maine: median $626 across 22 hospitalsME$626Vermont: median $1,235 across 13 hospitalsVT$1,235New Hampshire: median $859 across 19 hospitalsNH$859Washington: median $1,119 across 75 hospitalsWA$1,119Idaho: median $1,156 across 22 hospitalsID$1,156Montana: median $377 across 24 hospitalsMT$377North Dakota: median $793 across 17 hospitalsND$793Minnesota: median $920 across 98 hospitalsMN$920Illinois: median $1,173 across 126 hospitalsIL$1,173Wisconsin: median $1,150 across 104 hospitalsWI$1,150Michigan: median $863 across 88 hospitalsMI$863New York: median $1,206 across 109 hospitalsNY$1,206Massachusetts: median $1,175 across 47 hospitalsMA$1,175Oregon: median $558 across 55 hospitalsOR$558Nevada: median $1,198 across 20 hospitalsNV$1,198Wyoming: median $725 across 15 hospitalsWY$725South Dakota: median $908 across 23 hospitalsSD$908Iowa: median $744 across 79 hospitalsIA$744Indiana: median $1,198 across 83 hospitalsIN$1,198Ohio: median $1,688 across 139 hospitalsOH$1,688Pennsylvania: median $987 across 123 hospitalsPA$987New Jersey: median $812 across 58 hospitalsNJ$812Connecticut: median $1,002 across 23 hospitalsCT$1,002Rhode Island: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $2,033 across 187 hospitalsCA$2,033Utah: median $869 across 34 hospitalsUT$869Colorado: median $1,132 across 62 hospitalsCO$1,132Nebraska: median $813 across 63 hospitalsNE$813Missouri: median $952 across 73 hospitalsMO$952Kentucky: median $1,310 across 53 hospitalsKY$1,310West Virginia: median $854 across 37 hospitalsWV$854Virginia: median $1,322 across 57 hospitalsVA$1,322Maryland: median $793 across 13 hospitalsMD$793Delaware: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $1,035 across 45 hospitalsAZ$1,035New Mexico: median $1,012 across 27 hospitalsNM$1,012Kansas: median $650 across 68 hospitalsKS$650Arkansas: median $810 across 32 hospitalsAR$810Tennessee: median $634 across 63 hospitalsTN$634North Carolina: median $1,061 across 76 hospitalsNC$1,061South Carolina: median $1,472 across 43 hospitalsSC$1,472Oklahoma: median $674 across 54 hospitalsOK$674Louisiana: median $687 across 50 hospitalsLA$687Mississippi: median $520 across 49 hospitalsMS$520Alabama: median $1,011 across 38 hospitalsAL$1,011Georgia: median $1,410 across 89 hospitalsGA$1,410Hawaii: median $1,165 across 15 hospitalsHI$1,165Texas: median $1,411 across 180 hospitalsTX$1,411Florida: median $1,664 across 113 hospitalsFL$1,664
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,067. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA187$2,033+91%$802 – $3,017
Ohio OH139$1,688+58%$895 – $3,250
Florida FL113$1,664+56%$803 – $2,514
Alaska AK15$1,587+49%$663 – $2,967
South Carolina SC43$1,472+38%$1,001 – $1,849
Texas TX180$1,411+32%$865 – $2,461
Georgia GA89$1,410+32%$697 – $2,939
Virginia VA57$1,322+24%$767 – $2,363
Kentucky KY53$1,310+23%$443 – $2,483
Vermont VT13$1,235+16%$447 – $1,962
New York NY109$1,206+13%$373 – $2,488
Indiana IN83$1,198+12%$671 – $2,110
Nevada NV20$1,198+12%$515 – $1,990
Massachusetts MA47$1,175+10%$608 – $2,260
Illinois IL126$1,173+10%$554 – $2,473
Hawaii HI15$1,165+9%$425 – $1,887
Idaho ID22$1,156+8%$268 – $1,672
Wisconsin WI104$1,150+8%$505 – $1,616
Colorado CO62$1,132+6%$495 – $1,762
Washington WA75$1,119+5%$244 – $1,791
North Carolina NC76$1,061−1%$620 – $1,904
Arizona AZ45$1,035−3%$638 – $2,026
New Mexico NM27$1,012−5%$285 – $1,786
Alabama AL38$1,011−5%$559 – $2,423
Connecticut CT23$1,002−6%$428 – $1,336
Pennsylvania PA123$987−7%$372 – $2,615
Missouri MO73$952−11%$519 – $1,906
Minnesota MN98$920−14%$456 – $1,276
South Dakota SD23$908−15%$702 – $1,933
Utah UT34$869−19%$853 – $1,003
Michigan MI88$863−19%$297 – $1,586
New Hampshire NH19$859−20%$143 – $1,176
West Virginia WV37$854−20%$457 – $1,682
Nebraska NE63$813−24%$522 – $1,402
New Jersey NJ58$812−24%$684 – $4,350
Arkansas AR32$810−24%$372 – $1,240
Maryland MD13$793−26%$132 – $1,912
North Dakota ND17$793−26%$572 – $1,350
Iowa IA79$744−30%$325 – $1,437
Wyoming WY15$725−32%$172 – $1,236
Louisiana LA50$687−36%$446 – $1,342
Oklahoma OK54$674−37%$484 – $1,340
Kansas KS68$650−39%$312 – $1,121
Tennessee TN63$634−41%$384 – $892
Maine ME22$626−41%$196 – $1,355
Oregon OR55$558−48%$303 – $1,535
Mississippi MS49$520−51%$210 – $1,265
Montana MT24$377−65%$160 – $864
Rhode Island RI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE7not 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 $1,067.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,131$1,179$608 – $2,311
Children’s46$1,414$848 – $2,850
Critical access746$767$319 – $1,437
Ownership
For-profit314$1,255$634 – $2,555
Government531$784$341 – $1,559
Non-profit2,078$1,115$530 – $2,040
System affiliation
Part of a system2,372$1,156$568 – $2,091
Independent561$775$295 – $1,535

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$1,920
Median cash price$1,067
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

2,169 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,189 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,236; most fall between $560 and $2,153.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,169 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
$337$674$1,189$1,897$2,912

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.6× what the cheapest tenth charges ($337 vs $2,912).

Of the 2,326 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,169 gave a usable cash price; 59 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

2,933 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (74%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,144 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,933
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here94
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded8
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded108
Hospitals that filed this code3,144

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 Thoracentesis Needle/Cath Pleura W/Imaging.

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 drainage of fluid around the lung with imaging (CPT 32555) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-32555-needle-drainage-of-fluid-around-the-lung-with-imaging