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

Chest drain catheter left in place, no imaging guidance

CPT 32556the billing code this page is about

A catheter is inserted through the skin into the space around the lung and left in place to drain fluid over time; performed without imaging guidance.

Hospitals typically charge $1,678 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,127 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,695. Most fall between $636 and $3,007 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,127
States
50
Filings dated
Jan 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 2,127 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
$354$753$1,678$2,731$4,104

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($354 vs $4,104).

How the prices are spread

$227 – $312: 81 hospitals$227$312 – $429: 74 hospitals$429 – $590: 140 hospitals$429$590 – $811: 159 hospitals$811 – $1,115: 164 hospitals$811$1,115 – $1,532: 269 hospitals$1,532 – $2,106: 329 hospitals$1,532$2,106 – $2,895: 364 hospitals$2,895 – $3,979: 202 hospitals$2,895$3,979 – $5,469: 133 hospitals$3,979median $1,678price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,915 of 2,127 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$227$31281
$312$42974
$429$590140
$590$811159
$811$1,115164
$1,115$1,532269
$1,532$2,106329
$2,106$2,895364
$2,895$3,979202
$3,979$5,469133

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$1,960
Median cash price$1,678
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.86×

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 $1,678.

Alaska: median $2,336 across 12 hospitalsAK$2,336Maine: median $884 across 17 hospitalsME$884Vermont: median $787 across 10 hospitalsVT$787New Hampshire: median $175 across 14 hospitalsNH$175Washington: median $1,597 across 60 hospitalsWA$1,597Idaho: median $2,612 across 18 hospitalsID$2,612Montana: median $568 across 18 hospitalsMT$568North Dakota: median $2,148 across 12 hospitalsND$2,148Minnesota: median $1,179 across 59 hospitalsMN$1,179Illinois: median $1,530 across 88 hospitalsIL$1,530Wisconsin: median $1,255 across 77 hospitalsWI$1,255Michigan: median $1,482 across 74 hospitalsMI$1,482New York: median $2,245 across 86 hospitalsNY$2,245Massachusetts: median $1,977 across 34 hospitalsMA$1,977Oregon: median $1,794 across 43 hospitalsOR$1,794Nevada: median $1,625 across 13 hospitalsNV$1,625Wyoming: median $992 across 10 hospitalsWY$992South Dakota: median $1,013 across 21 hospitalsSD$1,013Iowa: median $1,147 across 43 hospitalsIA$1,147Indiana: median $816 across 48 hospitalsIN$816Ohio: median $2,129 across 112 hospitalsOH$2,129Pennsylvania: median $1,975 across 93 hospitalsPA$1,975New Jersey: median $2,539 across 50 hospitalsNJ$2,539Connecticut: median $686 across 18 hospitalsCT$686Rhode Island: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $2,014 across 150 hospitalsCA$2,014Utah: median $2,773 across 27 hospitalsUT$2,773Colorado: median $1,478 across 49 hospitalsCO$1,478Nebraska: median $1,253 across 41 hospitalsNE$1,253Missouri: median $1,280 across 43 hospitalsMO$1,280Kentucky: median $1,239 across 39 hospitalsKY$1,239West Virginia: median $2,177 across 31 hospitalsWV$2,177Virginia: median $1,250 across 49 hospitalsVA$1,250Maryland: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $1,800 across 29 hospitalsAZ$1,800New Mexico: median $1,903 across 21 hospitalsNM$1,903Kansas: median $735 across 32 hospitalsKS$735Arkansas: median $1,066 across 17 hospitalsAR$1,066Tennessee: median $575 across 44 hospitalsTN$575North Carolina: median $888 across 49 hospitalsNC$888South Carolina: median $2,602 across 34 hospitalsSC$2,602Oklahoma: median $1,255 across 29 hospitalsOK$1,255Louisiana: median $883 across 35 hospitalsLA$883Mississippi: median $904 across 38 hospitalsMS$904Alabama: median $929 across 24 hospitalsAL$929Georgia: median $2,228 across 73 hospitalsGA$2,228Hawaii: median $2,374 across 11 hospitalsHI$2,374Texas: median $2,550 across 142 hospitalsTX$2,550Florida: median $1,586 across 75 hospitalsFL$1,586
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,678. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Utah UT27$2,773+65%$2,236 – $3,082
Idaho ID18$2,612+56%$277 – $4,686
South Carolina SC34$2,602+55%$1,135 – $2,874
Texas TX142$2,550+52%$1,480 – $2,870
New Jersey NJ50$2,539+51%$2,100 – $5,339
Hawaii HI11$2,374+41%$986 – $3,162
Alaska AK12$2,336+39%$853 – $4,126
New York NY86$2,245+34%$574 – $4,104
Georgia GA73$2,228+33%$1,412 – $4,320
West Virginia WV31$2,177+30%$349 – $3,306
North Dakota ND12$2,148+28%$1,411 – $2,498
Ohio OH112$2,129+27%$1,267 – $3,941
California CA150$2,014+20%$1,416 – $3,628
Massachusetts MA34$1,977+18%$619 – $2,890
Pennsylvania PA93$1,975+18%$833 – $2,946
New Mexico NM21$1,903+13%$1,373 – $2,743
Arizona AZ29$1,800+7%$590 – $4,632
Oregon OR43$1,794+7%$329 – $3,136
Nevada NV13$1,625−3%$528 – $5,783
Washington WA60$1,597−5%$317 – $3,063
Florida FL75$1,586−5%$686 – $3,871
Illinois IL88$1,530−9%$683 – $2,761
Michigan MI74$1,482−12%$242 – $2,639
Colorado CO49$1,478−12%$838 – $2,424
Missouri MO43$1,280−24%$568 – $2,392
Oklahoma OK29$1,255−25%$532 – $2,038
Wisconsin WI77$1,255−25%$753 – $2,356
Nebraska NE41$1,253−25%$666 – $1,871
Virginia VA49$1,250−25%$706 – $1,834
Kentucky KY39$1,239−26%$438 – $2,475
Minnesota MN59$1,179−30%$480 – $1,820
Iowa IA43$1,147−32%$272 – $1,704
Arkansas AR17$1,066−36%$401 – $1,489
South Dakota SD21$1,013−40%$289 – $4,166
Wyoming WY10$992−41%$232 – $1,727
Alabama AL24$929−45%$568 – $1,909
Mississippi MS38$904−46%$389 – $2,069
North Carolina NC49$888−47%$566 – $1,838
Maine ME17$884−47%$330 – $2,336
Louisiana LA35$883−47%$645 – $1,771
Indiana IN48$816−51%$428 – $1,911
Vermont VT10$787−53%$207 – $2,299
Kansas KS32$735−56%$302 – $1,581
Connecticut CT18$686−59%$505 – $3,039
Tennessee TN44$575−66%$433 – $1,365
Montana MT18$568−66%$137 – $1,173
New Hampshire NH14$175−90%$124 – $1,207
Rhode Island RI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD3not 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 $1,678.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,601$1,848$742 – $3,267
Children’s42$1,858$648 – $2,976
Critical access476$1,058$340 – $2,336
Ownership
For-profit205$1,928$729 – $3,440
Government345$1,239$436 – $2,637
Non-profit1,569$1,760$677 – $3,030
System affiliation
Part of a system1,751$1,772$686 – $3,116
Independent376$1,320$381 – $2,489

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,692
Median cash price$1,678
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

1,624 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,730 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,745; most fall between $686 and $3,082.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,624 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
$424$829$1,730$2,773$4,122

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.7× what the cheapest tenth charges ($424 vs $4,122).

Of the 1,754 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,624 gave a usable cash price; 46 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 84 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,127 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (54%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 2,296 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,127
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here81
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded4
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded84
Hospitals that filed this code2,296

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 Incision of pleura, thoracentesis, chest drainage family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Perq Drainage Pleura Insert Cath W/O 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, “Chest drain catheter left in place, no imaging guidance (CPT 32556) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-32556-chest-drain-catheter-left-in-place-no-imaging-guidance