HRHospitalRates.comCompare prices

Procedure price report · Other non-OR therapeutic procedures on respiratory system

Medicine put into the chest drain to seal the lung lining

CPT 32560the billing code this page is about

A sclerosing agent such as talc is instilled through an existing chest tube or catheter to seal the space around the lung so fluid does not build up again.

Hospitals typically charge $870 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,132 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $953. Most fall between $405 and $1,773 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,132
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 1,132 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
$244$486$870$1,577$2,597

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($244 vs $2,597).

How the prices are spread

$147 – $203: 18 hospitals$147$203 – $280: 63 hospitals$280 – $386: 76 hospitals$280$386 – $532: 116 hospitals$532 – $733: 159 hospitals$532$733 – $1,011: 149 hospitals$1,011 – $1,394: 164 hospitals$1,011$1,394 – $1,923: 133 hospitals$1,923 – $2,652: 88 hospitals$1,923$2,652 – $3,657: 55 hospitals$2,652median $870price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,021 of 1,132 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$147$20318
$203$28063
$280$38676
$386$532116
$532$733159
$733$1,011149
$1,011$1,394164
$1,394$1,923133
$1,923$2,65288
$2,652$3,65755

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$641
Median cash price$870
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.36×

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 $870.

Alaska: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $570 across 35 hospitalsWA$570Idaho: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $758 across 25 hospitalsMN$758Illinois: median $1,168 across 44 hospitalsIL$1,168Wisconsin: median $1,143 across 52 hospitalsWI$1,143Michigan: median $515 across 43 hospitalsMI$515New York: median $732 across 47 hospitalsNY$732Massachusetts: median $2,166 across 20 hospitalsMA$2,166Oregon: median $778 across 31 hospitalsOR$778Nevada: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $632 across 25 hospitalsIA$632Indiana: median $709 across 34 hospitalsIN$709Ohio: median $1,243 across 67 hospitalsOH$1,243Pennsylvania: median $741 across 57 hospitalsPA$741New Jersey: median $1,964 across 37 hospitalsNJ$1,964Connecticut: median $872 across 11 hospitalsCT$872Rhode Island: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $1,503 across 96 hospitalsCA$1,503Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $983 across 27 hospitalsCO$983Nebraska: median $429 across 14 hospitalsNE$429Missouri: median $1,553 across 17 hospitalsMO$1,553Kentucky: median $531 across 14 hospitalsKY$531West Virginia: median $189 across 16 hospitalsWV$189Virginia: median $2,638 across 19 hospitalsVA$2,638Maryland: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $373 across 23 hospitalsAZ$373New Mexico: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: median $833 across 11 hospitalsAR$833Tennessee: median $249 across 17 hospitalsTN$249North Carolina: median $453 across 32 hospitalsNC$453South Carolina: median $773 across 20 hospitalsSC$773Oklahoma: median $377 across 21 hospitalsOK$377Louisiana: median $529 across 12 hospitalsLA$529Mississippi: median $549 across 16 hospitalsMS$549Alabama: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $1,228 across 46 hospitalsGA$1,228Hawaii: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $1,137 across 67 hospitalsTX$1,137Florida: median $1,897 across 46 hospitalsFL$1,897
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $870. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Virginia VA19$2,638+203%$498 – $2,822
Massachusetts MA20$2,166+149%$589 – $2,691
New Jersey NJ37$1,964+126%$684 – $4,881
Florida FL46$1,897+118%$621 – $2,593
Missouri MO17$1,553+79%$514 – $1,714
California CA96$1,503+73%$645 – $1,736
Ohio OH67$1,243+43%$679 – $2,421
Georgia GA46$1,228+41%$852 – $1,962
Illinois IL44$1,168+34%$454 – $1,874
Wisconsin WI52$1,143+31%$695 – $1,577
Texas TX67$1,137+31%$627 – $1,206
Colorado CO27$983+13%$520 – $1,319
Connecticut CT11$8720%$416 – $1,349
Arkansas AR11$833−4%$440 – $982
Oregon OR31$778−11%$446 – $2,549
South Carolina SC20$773−11%$773 – $1,018
Minnesota MN25$758−13%$208 – $890
Pennsylvania PA57$741−15%$552 – $2,147
New York NY47$732−16%$517 – $1,701
Indiana IN34$709−19%$505 – $1,291
Iowa IA25$632−27%$336 – $632
Washington WA35$570−34%$370 – $1,358
Mississippi MS16$549−37%$324 – $1,244
Kentucky KY14$531−39%$259 – $712
Louisiana LA12$529−39%$288 – $756
Michigan MI43$515−41%$218 – $870
North Carolina NC32$453−48%$208 – $1,125
Nebraska NE14$429−51%$249 – $482
Oklahoma OK21$377−57%$125 – $525
Arizona AZ23$373−57%$278 – $4,801
Tennessee TN17$249−71%$244 – $583
West Virginia WV16$189−78%$81 – $727
Hawaii HI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE1not 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 $870.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care953$890$429 – $1,829
Children’s29$974$340 – $2,518
Critical access145$694$318 – $1,206
Ownership
For-profit89$1,050$391 – $2,068
Government145$645$264 – $1,239
Non-profit893$889$429 – $1,813
System affiliation
Part of a system968$889$428 – $1,829
Independent164$697$288 – $1,461

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$1,563
Median cash price$870
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

842 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $980 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,022; most fall between $412 and $1,862.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 842 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
$259$491$980$1,714$2,638

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 10× what the cheapest tenth charges ($259 vs $2,638).

Of the 897 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 842 gave a usable cash price; 20 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 35 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,132 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (29%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,216 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,132
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here49
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 — excluded34
Hospitals that filed this code1,216

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 non-OR therapeutic procedures on respiratory system family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Instlj via Chest Tube/Cath Agent for Pleurodesis.

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, “Medicine put into the chest drain to seal the lung lining (CPT 32560) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-32560-medicine-put-into-the-chest-drain-to-seal-the-lung-lining