HRHospitalRates.comCompare prices

Procedure price report · Other non-OR therapeutic cardiovascular procedures

Laser closure of a varicose leg vein, first vein

CPT 36478the billing code this page is about

A catheter is threaded into a faulty vein in the arm or leg and laser energy seals it shut; this code covers the first vein treated in one leg or arm.

Hospitals typically charge $3,996 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,102 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $4,072. Most fall between $2,210 and $6,709 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,102
States
50
Filings dated
Dec 2023 – 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 1,102 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
$1,208$2,521$3,996$5,865$8,777

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.3× what the cheapest tenth charges ($1,208 vs $8,777).

How the prices are spread

$601 – $817: 26 hospitals$601$817 – $1,110: 20 hospitals$1,110 – $1,508: 46 hospitals$1,110$1,508 – $2,049: 51 hospitals$2,049 – $2,784: 128 hospitals$2,049$2,784 – $3,782: 195 hospitals$3,782 – $5,139: 219 hospitals$3,782$5,139 – $6,983: 162 hospitals$6,983 – $9,489: 102 hospitals$6,983$9,489 – $12,893: 43 hospitals$9,489median $3,996price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (992 of 1,102 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$601$81726
$817$1,11020
$1,110$1,50846
$1,508$2,04951
$2,049$2,784128
$2,784$3,782195
$3,782$5,139219
$5,139$6,983162
$6,983$9,489102
$9,489$12,89343

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$3,226
Median cash price$3,996
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.24×

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 $3,996.

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: 2 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 $2,769 across 19 hospitalsWA$2,769Idaho: median $7,154 across 10 hospitalsID$7,154Montana: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $3,446 across 41 hospitalsMN$3,446Illinois: median $3,247 across 54 hospitalsIL$3,247Wisconsin: median $4,260 across 71 hospitalsWI$4,260Michigan: median $2,784 across 39 hospitalsMI$2,784New York: median $3,725 across 37 hospitalsNY$3,725Massachusetts: median $4,110 across 18 hospitalsMA$4,110Oregon: median $1,333 across 14 hospitalsOR$1,333Nevada: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $2,580 across 21 hospitalsIA$2,580Indiana: median $2,468 across 32 hospitalsIN$2,468Ohio: median $6,114 across 74 hospitalsOH$6,114Pennsylvania: median $5,136 across 58 hospitalsPA$5,136New Jersey: median $4,253 across 34 hospitalsNJ$4,253Connecticut: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $7,869 across 62 hospitalsCA$7,869Utah: median $4,042 across 23 hospitalsUT$4,042Colorado: median $4,873 across 28 hospitalsCO$4,873Nebraska: median $4,289 across 19 hospitalsNE$4,289Missouri: median $2,950 across 35 hospitalsMO$2,950Kentucky: median $4,138 across 15 hospitalsKY$4,138West Virginia: median $1,126 across 20 hospitalsWV$1,126Virginia: median $3,892 across 26 hospitalsVA$3,892Maryland: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $3,875 across 23 hospitalsAZ$3,875New Mexico: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $2,974 across 13 hospitalsKS$2,974Arkansas: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $1,311 across 19 hospitalsTN$1,311North Carolina: median $4,048 across 12 hospitalsNC$4,048South Carolina: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $2,753 across 27 hospitalsOK$2,753Louisiana: median $2,504 across 18 hospitalsLA$2,504Mississippi: median $2,400 across 14 hospitalsMS$2,400Alabama: median $4,125 across 11 hospitalsAL$4,125Georgia: median $4,032 across 37 hospitalsGA$4,032Hawaii: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $4,817 across 45 hospitalsTX$4,817Florida: median $6,100 across 52 hospitalsFL$6,100
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $3,996. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA62$7,869+97%$4,120 – $7,907
Idaho ID10$7,154+79%$4,042 – $7,280
Ohio OH74$6,114+53%$3,440 – $7,889
Florida FL52$6,100+53%$3,044 – $7,275
Pennsylvania PA58$5,136+29%$3,641 – $14,454
Colorado CO28$4,873+22%$2,844 – $11,030
Texas TX45$4,817+21%$3,315 – $12,893
Nebraska NE19$4,289+7%$2,580 – $4,692
Wisconsin WI71$4,260+7%$2,107 – $5,771
New Jersey NJ34$4,253+6%$3,487 – $6,311
Kentucky KY15$4,138+4%$1,307 – $12,638
Alabama AL11$4,125+3%$3,171 – $5,957
Massachusetts MA18$4,110+3%$2,610 – $6,932
North Carolina NC12$4,048+1%$2,635 – $4,500
Utah UT23$4,042+1%$4,042 – $4,756
Georgia GA37$4,032+1%$3,108 – $6,514
Virginia VA26$3,892−3%$3,271 – $5,120
Arizona AZ23$3,875−3%$2,968 – $21,284
New York NY37$3,725−7%$2,558 – $7,148
Minnesota MN41$3,446−14%$2,343 – $5,865
Illinois IL54$3,247−19%$1,185 – $5,456
Kansas KS13$2,974−26%$1,733 – $5,332
Missouri MO35$2,950−26%$1,751 – $3,969
Michigan MI39$2,784−30%$270 – $4,342
Washington WA19$2,769−31%$1,614 – $8,379
Oklahoma OK27$2,753−31%$1,300 – $5,169
Iowa IA21$2,580−35%$2,580 – $3,802
Louisiana LA18$2,504−37%$1,489 – $3,218
Indiana IN32$2,468−38%$1,049 – $5,666
Mississippi MS14$2,400−40%$1,565 – $2,898
Oregon OR14$1,333−67%$423 – $1,715
Tennessee TN19$1,311−67%$1,208 – $2,442
West Virginia WV20$1,126−72%$295 – $4,428
North Dakota ND8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD1not 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 $3,996.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care933$4,032$2,362 – $6,778
Children’s21$7,213$3,819 – $11,030
Critical access145$3,144$1,047 – $5,771
Ownership
For-profit102$4,272$2,376 – $7,280
Government130$3,293$1,843 – $5,546
Non-profit867$4,032$2,245 – $6,816
System affiliation
Part of a system954$4,018$2,343 – $6,514
Independent148$3,819$1,711 – $7,869

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$7,280
Median cash price$3,996
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

808 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $4,260 and the average of the middle 60% is $4,466; most fall between $2,471 and $7,244.

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
$1,501$2,732$4,260$6,270$9,568

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.4× what the cheapest tenth charges ($1,501 vs $9,568).

Of the 852 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 808 gave a usable cash price; 21 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 23 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,102 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (28%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,175 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,102
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here55
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded18
Hospitals that filed this code1,175

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 Endoven Abltj Incmptnt Vein Xtr Laser 1st Vein.

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, “Laser closure of a varicose leg vein, first vein (CPT 36478) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-36478-laser-closure-of-a-varicose-leg-vein-first-vein