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Procedure price report · Other vascular catheterization, not heart

Contrast X-ray of the aortic arch and neck arteries

CPT 36221the billing code this page is about

Catheter placed in the chest aorta without entering a branch, with imaging of the arteries rising from the arch to the neck and brain; includes the imaging.

Hospitals typically charge $4,820 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,745 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $4,940. Most fall between $2,775 and $8,184 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,745
States
50
Filings dated
Feb 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 1,745 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
$1,801$3,097$4,820$7,172$12,509

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.9× what the cheapest tenth charges ($1,801 vs $12,509).

How the prices are spread

$1,053 – $1,379: 30 hospitals$1,053$1,379 – $1,806: 59 hospitals$1,806 – $2,365: 83 hospitals$1,806$2,365 – $3,098: 180 hospitals$3,098 – $4,058: 257 hospitals$3,098$4,058 – $5,315: 299 hospitals$5,315 – $6,961: 294 hospitals$5,315$6,961 – $9,118: 150 hospitals$9,118 – $11,942: 124 hospitals$9,118$11,942 – $15,641: 96 hospitals$11,942median $4,820price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,572 of 1,745 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$1,053$1,37930
$1,379$1,80659
$1,806$2,36583
$2,365$3,098180
$3,098$4,058257
$4,058$5,315299
$5,315$6,961294
$6,961$9,118150
$9,118$11,942124
$11,942$15,64196

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$3,226
Median cash price$4,820
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.49×

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 $4,820.

Alaska: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $4,753 across 42 hospitalsWA$4,753Idaho: median $6,621 across 12 hospitalsID$6,621Montana: median $1,546 across 10 hospitalsMT$1,546North Dakota: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $3,471 across 23 hospitalsMN$3,471Illinois: median $5,303 across 70 hospitalsIL$5,303Wisconsin: median $5,085 across 57 hospitalsWI$5,085Michigan: median $3,612 across 64 hospitalsMI$3,612New York: median $3,941 across 58 hospitalsNY$3,941Massachusetts: median $6,287 across 22 hospitalsMA$6,287Oregon: median $6,040 across 27 hospitalsOR$6,040Nevada: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $5,271 across 20 hospitalsIA$5,271Indiana: median $3,925 across 46 hospitalsIN$3,925Ohio: median $4,711 across 100 hospitalsOH$4,711Pennsylvania: median $5,274 across 87 hospitalsPA$5,274New Jersey: median $4,200 across 55 hospitalsNJ$4,200Connecticut: median $5,389 across 11 hospitalsCT$5,389Rhode Island: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $6,457 across 134 hospitalsCA$6,457Utah: median $5,268 across 26 hospitalsUT$5,268Colorado: median $5,684 across 33 hospitalsCO$5,684Nebraska: median $4,045 across 16 hospitalsNE$4,045Missouri: median $3,189 across 44 hospitalsMO$3,189Kentucky: median $6,014 across 31 hospitalsKY$6,014West Virginia: median $2,870 across 12 hospitalsWV$2,870Virginia: median $4,138 across 32 hospitalsVA$4,138Maryland: 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 $3,875 across 33 hospitalsAZ$3,875New Mexico: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $2,926 across 22 hospitalsKS$2,926Arkansas: median $2,640 across 15 hospitalsAR$2,640Tennessee: median $2,655 across 43 hospitalsTN$2,655North Carolina: median $3,967 across 44 hospitalsNC$3,967South Carolina: median $6,301 across 35 hospitalsSC$6,301Oklahoma: median $3,307 across 34 hospitalsOK$3,307Louisiana: median $4,030 across 37 hospitalsLA$4,030Mississippi: median $3,342 across 29 hospitalsMS$3,342Alabama: median $5,008 across 26 hospitalsAL$5,008Georgia: median $5,188 across 61 hospitalsGA$5,188Hawaii: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $5,498 across 172 hospitalsTX$5,498Florida: median $5,758 across 92 hospitalsFL$5,758
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $4,820. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Idaho ID12$6,621+37%$5,318 – $7,280
California CA134$6,457+34%$4,039 – $11,513
South Carolina SC35$6,301+31%$3,082 – $9,852
Massachusetts MA22$6,287+30%$3,850 – $8,911
Oregon OR27$6,040+25%$2,484 – $6,811
Kentucky KY31$6,014+25%$1,933 – $11,839
Florida FL92$5,758+19%$3,044 – $10,709
Colorado CO33$5,684+18%$3,629 – $9,770
Texas TX172$5,498+14%$3,879 – $9,493
Connecticut CT11$5,389+12%$3,540 – $9,861
Illinois IL70$5,303+10%$2,206 – $7,633
Pennsylvania PA87$5,274+9%$3,294 – $15,528
Iowa IA20$5,271+9%$2,558 – $6,812
Utah UT26$5,268+9%$5,268 – $5,578
Georgia GA61$5,188+8%$2,775 – $11,541
Wisconsin WI57$5,085+6%$2,488 – $5,369
Alabama AL26$5,008+4%$2,945 – $9,366
Washington WA42$4,753−1%$3,183 – $6,661
Ohio OH100$4,711−2%$2,954 – $8,861
New Jersey NJ55$4,200−13%$3,484 – $8,480
Virginia VA32$4,138−14%$3,205 – $7,496
Nebraska NE16$4,045−16%$2,674 – $4,499
Louisiana LA37$4,030−16%$2,116 – $6,187
North Carolina NC44$3,967−18%$2,272 – $5,053
New York NY58$3,941−18%$2,493 – $8,432
Indiana IN46$3,925−19%$2,819 – $6,907
Arizona AZ33$3,875−20%$1,739 – $16,330
Michigan MI64$3,612−25%$421 – $8,184
Minnesota MN23$3,471−28%$2,200 – $5,462
Mississippi MS29$3,342−31%$2,200 – $4,226
Oklahoma OK34$3,307−31%$1,606 – $5,190
Missouri MO44$3,189−34%$2,378 – $5,234
Kansas KS22$2,926−39%$2,047 – $6,256
West Virginia WV12$2,870−40%$2,179 – $5,324
Tennessee TN43$2,655−45%$1,597 – $3,948
Arkansas AR15$2,640−45%$956 – $3,767
Montana MT10$1,546−68%$1,546 – $3,128
South Dakota SD9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME3not 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 $4,820.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,571$4,787$2,775 – $8,459
Children’s38$4,955$2,342 – $8,178
Critical access127$5,130$1,933 – $6,968
Ownership
For-profit226$5,190$2,775 – $12,529
Government208$4,043$2,315 – $6,888
Non-profit1,302$4,881$2,777 – $7,840
System affiliation
Part of a system1,514$4,914$2,814 – $8,184
Independent231$4,499$2,095 – $7,556

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$8,876
Median cash price$4,820
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

1,321 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $5,268 and the average of the middle 60% is $5,246; most fall between $2,923 and $8,322.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,321 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
$2,128$3,313$5,268$7,496$12,459

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 5.9× what the cheapest tenth charges ($2,128 vs $12,459).

Of the 1,439 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,321 gave a usable cash price; 59 carried a plausibility flag, 1 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 58 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,745 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (44%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,890 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,745
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here80
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded1
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded63
Hospitals that filed this code1,890

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 vascular catheterization, not heart family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Nonslctv Cath Thor Aorta Angio Intr/Xtrcranl Art.

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, “Contrast X-ray of the aortic arch and neck arteries (CPT 36221) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-36221-contrast-x-ray-of-the-aortic-arch-and-neck-arteries