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Procedure price report · Other non-OR therapeutic cardiovascular procedures

Needle drainage of fluid around the heart, no drain left in

CPT 33016the billing code this page is about

A needle is used to withdraw fluid from the sac surrounding the heart, including any imaging guidance used; no tube is left in place afterward.

Hospitals typically charge $1,943 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,096 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,016. Most fall between $860 and $3,533 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,096
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 2,096 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
$485$1,071$1,943$3,168$5,296

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($485 vs $5,296).

How the prices are spread

$355 – $478: 95 hospitals$355$478 – $643: 112 hospitals$643 – $865: 112 hospitals$643$865 – $1,164: 138 hospitals$1,164 – $1,566: 256 hospitals$1,164$1,566 – $2,106: 323 hospitals$2,106 – $2,834: 327 hospitals$2,106$2,834 – $3,812: 270 hospitals$3,812 – $5,129: 136 hospitals$3,812$5,129 – $6,900: 119 hospitals$5,129median $1,943price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,888 of 2,096 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$355$47895
$478$643112
$643$865112
$865$1,164138
$1,164$1,566256
$1,566$2,106323
$2,106$2,834327
$2,834$3,812270
$3,812$5,129136
$5,129$6,900119

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$1,608
Median cash price$1,943
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.21×

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 $1,943.

Alaska: median $2,385 across 10 hospitalsAK$2,385Maine: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $463 across 15 hospitalsNH$463Washington: median $1,204 across 50 hospitalsWA$1,204Idaho: median $1,327 across 16 hospitalsID$1,327Montana: median $355 across 12 hospitalsMT$355North Dakota: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $1,943 across 49 hospitalsMN$1,943Illinois: median $1,808 across 83 hospitalsIL$1,808Wisconsin: median $1,618 across 65 hospitalsWI$1,618Michigan: median $1,862 across 69 hospitalsMI$1,862New York: median $1,965 across 75 hospitalsNY$1,965Massachusetts: median $3,023 across 34 hospitalsMA$3,023Oregon: median $1,543 across 38 hospitalsOR$1,543Nevada: median $1,189 across 12 hospitalsNV$1,189Wyoming: median $923 across 11 hospitalsWY$923South Dakota: median $2,934 across 10 hospitalsSD$2,934Iowa: median $2,652 across 27 hospitalsIA$2,652Indiana: median $1,160 across 60 hospitalsIN$1,160Ohio: median $2,499 across 106 hospitalsOH$2,499Pennsylvania: median $2,437 across 96 hospitalsPA$2,437New Jersey: median $2,073 across 54 hospitalsNJ$2,073Connecticut: median $1,997 across 15 hospitalsCT$1,997Rhode Island: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $2,577 across 156 hospitalsCA$2,577Utah: median $1,744 across 27 hospitalsUT$1,744Colorado: median $1,469 across 44 hospitalsCO$1,469Nebraska: median $843 across 25 hospitalsNE$843Missouri: median $1,673 across 51 hospitalsMO$1,673Kentucky: median $1,295 across 25 hospitalsKY$1,295West Virginia: median $1,992 across 24 hospitalsWV$1,992Virginia: median $1,641 across 50 hospitalsVA$1,641Maryland: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $944 across 37 hospitalsAZ$944New Mexico: median $1,983 across 16 hospitalsNM$1,983Kansas: median $1,227 across 28 hospitalsKS$1,227Arkansas: median $1,182 across 22 hospitalsAR$1,182Tennessee: median $774 across 45 hospitalsTN$774North Carolina: median $1,566 across 59 hospitalsNC$1,566South Carolina: median $1,970 across 39 hospitalsSC$1,970Oklahoma: median $1,304 across 34 hospitalsOK$1,304Louisiana: median $1,025 across 37 hospitalsLA$1,025Mississippi: median $845 across 36 hospitalsMS$845Alabama: median $1,761 across 32 hospitalsAL$1,761Georgia: median $2,154 across 76 hospitalsGA$2,154Hawaii: median $2,018 across 13 hospitalsHI$2,018Texas: median $2,649 across 176 hospitalsTX$2,649Florida: median $2,808 across 99 hospitalsFL$2,808
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,943. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Massachusetts MA34$3,023+56%$1,168 – $5,148
South Dakota SD10$2,934+51%$2,258 – $3,908
Florida FL99$2,808+45%$999 – $5,267
Iowa IA27$2,652+36%$843 – $3,440
Texas TX176$2,649+36%$1,345 – $3,454
California CA156$2,577+33%$1,588 – $3,818
Ohio OH106$2,499+29%$1,277 – $5,806
Pennsylvania PA96$2,437+25%$1,815 – $3,599
Alaska AK10$2,385+23%$1,534 – $3,337
Georgia GA76$2,154+11%$1,351 – $3,327
New Jersey NJ54$2,073+7%$1,208 – $5,419
Hawaii HI13$2,018+4%$1,439 – $3,709
Connecticut CT15$1,997+3%$872 – $2,599
West Virginia WV24$1,992+3%$299 – $2,995
New Mexico NM16$1,983+2%$1,516 – $6,622
South Carolina SC39$1,970+1%$1,242 – $2,260
New York NY75$1,965+1%$722 – $3,884
Minnesota MN49$1,9430%$1,400 – $2,372
Michigan MI69$1,862−4%$310 – $3,194
Illinois IL83$1,808−7%$625 – $3,476
Alabama AL32$1,761−9%$972 – $2,942
Utah UT27$1,744−10%$903 – $2,290
Missouri MO51$1,673−14%$1,126 – $3,251
Virginia VA50$1,641−16%$1,072 – $2,812
Wisconsin WI65$1,618−17%$1,282 – $2,230
North Carolina NC59$1,566−19%$1,007 – $2,314
Oregon OR38$1,543−21%$528 – $3,531
Colorado CO44$1,469−24%$845 – $3,157
Idaho ID16$1,327−32%$903 – $3,542
Oklahoma OK34$1,304−33%$500 – $2,480
Kentucky KY25$1,295−33%$457 – $2,497
Kansas KS28$1,227−37%$519 – $2,419
Washington WA50$1,204−38%$830 – $3,497
Nevada NV12$1,189−39%$479 – $5,474
Arkansas AR22$1,182−39%$401 – $2,581
Indiana IN60$1,160−40%$560 – $3,018
Louisiana LA37$1,025−47%$486 – $2,098
Arizona AZ37$944−51%$594 – $9,882
Wyoming WY11$923−52%$425 – $1,378
Mississippi MS36$845−57%$453 – $2,791
Nebraska NE25$843−57%$395 – $1,657
Tennessee TN45$774−60%$614 – $1,716
New Hampshire NH15$463−76%$277 – $1,731
Montana MT12$355−82%$282 – $667
Maine ME9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT5not 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 $1,943.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,762$2,004$1,000 – $3,662
Children’s41$2,195$1,000 – $4,279
Critical access284$1,199$427 – $2,836
Ownership
For-profit256$2,077$1,212 – $5,364
Government273$1,570$621 – $2,849
Non-profit1,558$1,987$866 – $3,534
System affiliation
Part of a system1,792$1,970$933 – $3,553
Independent304$1,686$577 – $3,328

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$3,544
Median cash price$1,943
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

1,631 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $2,061 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,094; most fall between $913 and $3,481.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,631 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
$566$1,120$2,061$3,184$4,990

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.8× what the cheapest tenth charges ($566 vs $4,990).

Of the 1,751 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,631 gave a usable cash price; 57 carried a plausibility flag, 1 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 62 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,096 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (53%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 2,256 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,096
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here86
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded2
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded71
Hospitals that filed this code2,256

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 cardiovascular procedures family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as HC Pericardiocentesis WO/W Img Guidance.

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 heart, no drain left in (CPT 33016) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-33016-needle-drainage-of-fluid-around-the-heart-no-drain-left-in