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Procedure price report · Other OR therapeutic procedures on respiratory system

Heat ablation of lung tumors through the skin, one side

CPT 32998the billing code this page is about

A needle electrode is placed through the chest wall with imaging guidance to destroy one or more tumors in one lung using radiofrequency heat energy.

Hospitals typically charge $7,228 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,045 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $7,439. Most fall between $3,882 and $12,302 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,045
States
50
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 1,045 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
$2,434$4,677$7,228$10,952$16,402

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.7× what the cheapest tenth charges ($2,434 vs $16,402).

How the prices are spread

$1,444 – $1,874: 23 hospitals$1,444$1,874 – $2,431: 24 hospitals$2,431 – $3,155: 72 hospitals$2,431$3,155 – $4,095: 51 hospitals$4,095 – $5,314: 103 hospitals$4,095$5,314 – $6,896: 164 hospitals$6,896 – $8,948: 200 hospitals$6,896$8,948 – $11,613: 109 hospitals$11,613 – $15,070: 110 hospitals$11,613$15,070 – $19,556: 86 hospitals$15,070median $7,228price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (942 of 1,045 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$1,444$1,87423
$1,874$2,43124
$2,431$3,15572
$3,155$4,09551
$4,095$5,314103
$5,314$6,896164
$6,896$8,948200
$8,948$11,613109
$11,613$15,070110
$15,070$19,55686

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$6,176
Median cash price$7,228
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.17×

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 $7,228.

Alaska: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $7,626 across 23 hospitalsWA$7,626Idaho: median $13,138 across 10 hospitalsID$13,138Montana: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $7,228 across 15 hospitalsMN$7,228Illinois: median $5,772 across 42 hospitalsIL$5,772Wisconsin: median $7,288 across 31 hospitalsWI$7,288Michigan: median $8,313 across 23 hospitalsMI$8,313New York: median $6,904 across 44 hospitalsNY$6,904Massachusetts: median $8,515 across 20 hospitalsMA$8,515Oregon: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $8,402 across 17 hospitalsIA$8,402Indiana: median $4,098 across 32 hospitalsIN$4,098Ohio: median $7,565 across 69 hospitalsOH$7,565Pennsylvania: median $7,143 across 58 hospitalsPA$7,143New Jersey: median $6,458 across 45 hospitalsNJ$6,458Connecticut: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $12,235 across 90 hospitalsCA$12,235Utah: median $9,041 across 23 hospitalsUT$9,041Colorado: median $8,109 across 15 hospitalsCO$8,109Nebraska: median $2,875 across 10 hospitalsNE$2,875Missouri: median $5,752 across 17 hospitalsMO$5,752Kentucky: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $6,598 across 23 hospitalsVA$6,598Maryland: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $4,149 across 27 hospitalsAZ$4,149New Mexico: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $2,768 across 21 hospitalsTN$2,768North Carolina: median $5,057 across 31 hospitalsNC$5,057South Carolina: median $5,348 across 20 hospitalsSC$5,348Oklahoma: median $3,168 across 24 hospitalsOK$3,168Louisiana: median $4,850 across 18 hospitalsLA$4,850Mississippi: median $3,704 across 16 hospitalsMS$3,704Alabama: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $10,766 across 36 hospitalsGA$10,766Hawaii: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $6,479 across 88 hospitalsTX$6,479Florida: median $11,447 across 62 hospitalsFL$11,447
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $7,228. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Idaho ID10$13,138+82%$5,893 – $15,131
California CA90$12,235+69%$6,732 – $16,402
Florida FL62$11,447+58%$5,856 – $15,670
Georgia GA36$10,766+49%$8,161 – $11,936
Utah UT23$9,041+25%$9,041 – $9,821
Massachusetts MA20$8,515+18%$3,895 – $9,678
Iowa IA17$8,402+16%$5,731 – $8,531
Michigan MI23$8,313+15%$4,910 – $16,560
Colorado CO15$8,109+12%$4,218 – $10,514
Washington WA23$7,626+6%$2,970 – $9,262
Ohio OH69$7,565+5%$5,105 – $14,580
Wisconsin WI31$7,288+1%$5,540 – $8,094
Minnesota MN15$7,2280%$4,083 – $7,228
Pennsylvania PA58$7,143−1%$5,521 – $14,655
New York NY44$6,904−4%$3,147 – $13,908
Virginia VA23$6,598−9%$6,572 – $7,599
Texas TX88$6,479−10%$3,000 – $21,779
New Jersey NJ45$6,458−11%$4,500 – $17,412
Illinois IL42$5,772−20%$2,504 – $12,200
Missouri MO17$5,752−20%$4,747 – $7,805
South Carolina SC20$5,348−26%$5,348 – $7,253
North Carolina NC31$5,057−30%$1,984 – $5,267
Louisiana LA18$4,850−33%$3,510 – $8,590
Arizona AZ27$4,149−43%$2,439 – $13,966
Indiana IN32$4,098−43%$1,943 – $8,167
Mississippi MS16$3,704−49%$1,985 – $3,850
Oklahoma OK24$3,168−56%$643 – $6,899
Nebraska NE10$2,875−60%$2,875 – $6,326
Tennessee TN21$2,768−62%$2,265 – $4,372
Oregon OR9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME1not 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 $7,228.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care940$7,143$3,895 – $12,302
Children’s26$7,695$4,776 – $12,575
Critical access72$7,288$2,768 – $13,915
Ownership
For-profit91$8,722$3,849 – $15,131
Government125$5,731$2,681 – $9,262
Non-profit822$7,244$4,138 – $12,302
System affiliation
Part of a system922$7,228$3,970 – $12,302
Independent123$6,844$3,423 – $13,029

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$12,417
Median cash price$7,228
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

825 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $7,525 and the average of the middle 60% is $7,867; most fall between $3,970 and $13,093.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 825 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
$2,504$4,910$7,525$11,894$16,402

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.6× what the cheapest tenth charges ($2,504 vs $16,402).

Of the 891 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 825 gave a usable cash price; 27 carried a plausibility flag, 1 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 38 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,045 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (26%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,133 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,045
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here43
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 — excluded44
Hospitals that filed this code1,133

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 Ablation Ther 1+ Pulm Tumors Perq Radiofrequency.

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, “Heat ablation of lung tumors through the skin, one side (CPT 32998) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-32998-heat-ablation-of-lung-tumors-through-the-skin-one-side