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Procedure price report · Insertion, revision, replacement, removal of cardiac pacemaker or cardioverter/defibrillator

Insertion of an under-the-skin defibrillator electrode

CPT 33271the billing code this page is about

Placement of the electrode wire alone for a defibrillator system that lies under the skin outside the heart, without placing a generator.

Hospitals typically charge $8,227 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,058 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $8,263. Most fall between $3,381 and $16,023 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,058
States
49
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 1,058 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
$2,308$4,010$8,227$12,890$24,529

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($2,308 vs $24,529).

How the prices are spread

$819 – $1,178: 25 hospitals$819$1,178 – $1,695: 18 hospitals$1,695 – $2,438: 23 hospitals$1,695$2,438 – $3,507: 107 hospitals$3,507 – $5,044: 139 hospitals$3,507$5,044 – $7,256: 111 hospitals$7,256 – $10,438: 195 hospitals$7,256$10,438 – $15,014: 168 hospitals$15,014 – $21,598: 96 hospitals$15,014$21,598 – $31,068: 74 hospitals$21,598median $8,227price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (956 of 1,058 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$819$1,17825
$1,178$1,69518
$1,695$2,43823
$2,438$3,507107
$3,507$5,044139
$5,044$7,256111
$7,256$10,438195
$10,438$15,014168
$15,014$21,59896
$21,598$31,06874

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$8,455
Median cash price$8,227
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.97×

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 $8,227.

Alaska: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $4,876 across 24 hospitalsWA$4,876Idaho: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMTNorth Dakota: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $9,250 across 17 hospitalsMN$9,250Illinois: median $9,090 across 41 hospitalsIL$9,090Wisconsin: median $3,381 across 34 hospitalsWI$3,381Michigan: median $8,208 across 41 hospitalsMI$8,208New York: median $9,793 across 39 hospitalsNY$9,793Massachusetts: median $12,541 across 10 hospitalsMA$12,541Oregon: median $12,547 across 22 hospitalsOR$12,547Nevada: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $1,112 across 16 hospitalsIA$1,112Indiana: median $3,921 across 33 hospitalsIN$3,921Ohio: median $12,375 across 66 hospitalsOH$12,375Pennsylvania: median $9,777 across 49 hospitalsPA$9,777New Jersey: median $6,311 across 31 hospitalsNJ$6,311Connecticut: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $13,319 across 90 hospitalsCA$13,319Utah: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $8,980 across 26 hospitalsCO$8,980Nebraska: median $4,832 across 11 hospitalsNE$4,832Missouri: median $9,154 across 27 hospitalsMO$9,154Kentucky: median $33,231 across 19 hospitalsKY$33,231West Virginia: median $3,003 across 21 hospitalsWV$3,003Virginia: median $5,075 across 23 hospitalsVA$5,075Maryland: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $7,266 across 22 hospitalsAZ$7,266New Mexico: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $3,857 across 20 hospitalsTN$3,857North Carolina: median $4,010 across 21 hospitalsNC$4,010South Carolina: median $8,227 across 21 hospitalsSC$8,227Oklahoma: median $2,308 across 23 hospitalsOK$2,308Louisiana: median $7,133 across 14 hospitalsLA$7,133Mississippi: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: median $8,607 across 11 hospitalsAL$8,607Georgia: median $4,834 across 50 hospitalsGA$4,834Hawaii: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $10,960 across 113 hospitalsTX$10,960Florida: median $8,617 across 53 hospitalsFL$8,617
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $8,227. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Kentucky KY19$33,231+304%$5,106 – $40,597
California CA90$13,319+62%$6,502 – $25,486
Oregon OR22$12,547+53%$819 – $16,986
Massachusetts MA10$12,541+52%$4,454 – $18,756
Ohio OH66$12,375+50%$6,821 – $14,075
Texas TX113$10,960+33%$2,853 – $19,006
New York NY39$9,793+19%$4,405 – $15,111
Pennsylvania PA49$9,777+19%$4,903 – $15,595
Minnesota MN17$9,250+12%$4,078 – $9,250
Missouri MO27$9,154+11%$8,177 – $12,291
Illinois IL41$9,090+10%$1,918 – $22,606
Colorado CO26$8,980+9%$6,746 – $20,076
Florida FL53$8,617+5%$6,694 – $20,078
Alabama AL11$8,607+5%$6,723 – $12,635
South Carolina SC21$8,2270%$8,227 – $11,936
Michigan MI41$8,2080%$592 – $20,096
Arizona AZ22$7,266−12%$4,295 – $9,410
Louisiana LA14$7,133−13%$3,538 – $11,105
New Jersey NJ31$6,311−23%$3,986 – $9,168
Virginia VA23$5,075−38%$4,891 – $10,868
Washington WA24$4,876−41%$2,820 – $11,082
Georgia GA50$4,834−41%$2,894 – $12,572
Nebraska NE11$4,832−41%$3,137 – $6,988
North Carolina NC21$4,010−51%$4,010 – $11,833
Indiana IN33$3,921−52%$2,377 – $6,936
Tennessee TN20$3,857−53%$545 – $4,070
Wisconsin WI34$3,381−59%$2,559 – $7,343
West Virginia WV21$3,003−63%$2,628 – $4,004
Oklahoma OK23$2,308−72%$1,634 – $8,655
Iowa IA16$1,112−86%$1,112 – $6,451
Connecticut CT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT1not 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 $8,227.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care956$8,440$3,713 – $16,712
Children’s22$9,293$2,030 – $29,294
Critical access75$3,381$2,465 – $10,733
Ownership
For-profit113$9,410$3,773 – $24,228
Government116$5,525$3,713 – $11,105
Non-profit824$8,227$3,381 – $16,615
System affiliation
Part of a system955$8,227$3,381 – $16,023
Independent103$8,788$2,526 – $15,932

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$14,896
Median cash price$8,227
Cash as a share of list, median hospital56%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 44%. 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

808 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $8,177 and the average of the middle 60% is $8,134; most fall between $3,381 and $14,291.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 808 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
$2,308$4,010$8,177$12,572$21,811

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.5× what the cheapest tenth charges ($2,308 vs $21,811).

Of the 867 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 808 gave a usable cash price; 29 carried a plausibility flag, 1 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 29 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,058 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (27%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,136 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,058
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here48
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 — excluded29
Hospitals that filed this code1,136

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 Insertion, revision, replacement, removal of cardiac pacemaker or cardioverter/defibrillator family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Insj of Subq Implantable Defibrillator Electrode.

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, “Insertion of an under-the-skin defibrillator electrode (CPT 33271) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-33271-insertion-of-an-under-the-skin-defibrillator-electrode