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Procedure price report · Other vascular catheterization, not heart

Central line placement, age 5 or older, not tunneled

CPT 36556the billing code this page is about

A catheter is inserted through a large vein toward the heart in a patient aged 5 or older, without being routed under the skin.

Hospitals typically charge $1,845 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,960 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,893. Most fall between $530 and $3,707 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,960
States
50
Filings dated
Aug 2022 – 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 2,960 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
$294$694$1,845$3,185$5,224

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 18× what the cheapest tenth charges ($294 vs $5,224).

How the prices are spread

$190 – $273: 130 hospitals$190$273 – $393: 160 hospitals$393 – $566: 202 hospitals$393$566 – $815: 188 hospitals$815 – $1,173: 238 hospitals$815$1,173 – $1,689: 320 hospitals$1,689 – $2,431: 440 hospitals$1,689$2,431 – $3,500: 495 hospitals$3,500 – $5,039: 331 hospitals$3,500$5,039 – $7,254: 166 hospitals$5,039median $1,845price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,670 of 2,960 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$190$273130
$273$393160
$393$566202
$566$815188
$815$1,173238
$1,173$1,689320
$1,689$2,431440
$2,431$3,500495
$3,500$5,039331
$5,039$7,254166

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$3,226
Median cash price$1,845
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.57×

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 $1,845.

Alaska: median $1,268 across 16 hospitalsAK$1,268Maine: median $545 across 23 hospitalsME$545Vermont: median $1,110 across 13 hospitalsVT$1,110New Hampshire: median $602 across 20 hospitalsNH$602Washington: median $1,523 across 76 hospitalsWA$1,523Idaho: median $1,388 across 24 hospitalsID$1,388Montana: median $358 across 24 hospitalsMT$358North Dakota: median $2,360 across 17 hospitalsND$2,360Minnesota: median $998 across 94 hospitalsMN$998Illinois: median $1,737 across 128 hospitalsIL$1,737Wisconsin: median $1,245 across 101 hospitalsWI$1,245Michigan: median $1,635 across 82 hospitalsMI$1,635New York: median $2,568 across 99 hospitalsNY$2,568Massachusetts: median $2,162 across 44 hospitalsMA$2,162Oregon: median $443 across 53 hospitalsOR$443Nevada: median $1,470 across 18 hospitalsNV$1,470Wyoming: median $588 across 15 hospitalsWY$588South Dakota: median $1,167 across 20 hospitalsSD$1,167Iowa: median $757 across 72 hospitalsIA$757Indiana: median $1,351 across 79 hospitalsIN$1,351Ohio: median $2,781 across 136 hospitalsOH$2,781Pennsylvania: median $2,472 across 112 hospitalsPA$2,472New Jersey: median $4,085 across 57 hospitalsNJ$4,085Connecticut: median $1,192 across 19 hospitalsCT$1,192Rhode Island: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $3,434 across 188 hospitalsCA$3,434Utah: median $1,273 across 32 hospitalsUT$1,273Colorado: median $1,723 across 61 hospitalsCO$1,723Nebraska: median $866 across 52 hospitalsNE$866Missouri: median $1,275 across 76 hospitalsMO$1,275Kentucky: median $1,822 across 57 hospitalsKY$1,822West Virginia: median $2,311 across 40 hospitalsWV$2,311Virginia: median $2,028 across 61 hospitalsVA$2,028Maryland: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $1,523 across 46 hospitalsAZ$1,523New Mexico: median $1,226 across 31 hospitalsNM$1,226Kansas: median $1,035 across 65 hospitalsKS$1,035Arkansas: median $1,318 across 39 hospitalsAR$1,318Tennessee: median $567 across 65 hospitalsTN$567North Carolina: median $1,403 across 73 hospitalsNC$1,403South Carolina: median $3,150 across 44 hospitalsSC$3,150Oklahoma: median $1,018 across 64 hospitalsOK$1,018Louisiana: median $1,166 across 49 hospitalsLA$1,166Mississippi: median $987 across 53 hospitalsMS$987Alabama: median $1,832 across 43 hospitalsAL$1,832Georgia: median $2,673 across 103 hospitalsGA$2,673Hawaii: median $2,612 across 17 hospitalsHI$2,612Texas: median $2,900 across 214 hospitalsTX$2,900Florida: median $2,753 across 121 hospitalsFL$2,753
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,845. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
New Jersey NJ57$4,085+121%$3,440 – $5,741
California CA188$3,434+86%$1,774 – $4,469
South Carolina SC44$3,150+71%$1,675 – $5,370
Texas TX214$2,900+57%$1,212 – $4,240
Ohio OH136$2,781+51%$1,921 – $5,123
Florida FL121$2,753+49%$1,085 – $6,148
Georgia GA103$2,673+45%$458 – $4,862
Hawaii HI17$2,612+42%$1,342 – $5,444
New York NY99$2,568+39%$630 – $4,701
Pennsylvania PA112$2,472+34%$1,121 – $3,947
North Dakota ND17$2,360+28%$383 – $3,240
West Virginia WV40$2,311+25%$416 – $3,498
Massachusetts MA44$2,162+17%$1,085 – $2,578
Virginia VA61$2,028+10%$1,157 – $2,643
Alabama AL43$1,832−1%$875 – $4,328
Kentucky KY57$1,822−1%$939 – $5,392
Illinois IL128$1,737−6%$586 – $3,399
Colorado CO61$1,723−7%$454 – $3,053
Michigan MI82$1,635−11%$153 – $3,523
Arizona AZ46$1,523−17%$748 – $4,346
Washington WA76$1,523−17%$349 – $2,827
Nevada NV18$1,470−20%$754 – $3,330
North Carolina NC73$1,403−24%$808 – $1,850
Idaho ID24$1,388−25%$226 – $7,280
Indiana IN79$1,351−27%$242 – $2,969
Arkansas AR39$1,318−29%$389 – $1,948
Missouri MO76$1,275−31%$450 – $3,006
Utah UT32$1,273−31%$1,273 – $1,414
Alaska AK16$1,268−31%$702 – $2,393
Wisconsin WI101$1,245−32%$782 – $2,423
New Mexico NM31$1,226−34%$372 – $2,955
Connecticut CT19$1,192−35%$440 – $4,075
South Dakota SD20$1,167−37%$420 – $2,022
Louisiana LA49$1,166−37%$659 – $2,518
Vermont VT13$1,110−40%$511 – $5,532
Kansas KS65$1,035−44%$229 – $2,717
Oklahoma OK64$1,018−45%$382 – $2,049
Minnesota MN94$998−46%$421 – $2,172
Mississippi MS53$987−47%$437 – $2,210
Nebraska NE52$866−53%$494 – $2,152
Iowa IA72$757−59%$301 – $2,263
New Hampshire NH20$602−67%$273 – $1,329
Wyoming WY15$588−68%$234 – $858
Tennessee TN65$567−69%$350 – $1,639
Maine ME23$545−70%$160 – $2,354
Oregon OR53$443−76%$287 – $3,195
Montana MT24$358−81%$243 – $1,269
Maryland MD9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE7not 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 $1,845.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,111$2,171$850 – $4,026
Children’s50$2,489$723 – $4,249
Critical access790$764$279 – $2,360
Ownership
For-profit346$2,488$940 – $4,973
Government560$995$343 – $2,861
Non-profit2,045$1,948$577 – $3,709
System affiliation
Part of a system2,380$1,999$657 – $3,789
Independent580$1,014$277 – $2,892

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$3,203
Median cash price$1,845
Cash as a share of list, median hospital65%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 35%. 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

2,228 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $2,033 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,091; most fall between $762 and $3,789.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,228 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
$372$1,002$2,033$3,293$5,369

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 14× what the cheapest tenth charges ($372 vs $5,369).

Of the 2,411 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,228 gave a usable cash price; 84 carried a plausibility flag, 1 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 98 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,960 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (75%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,211 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,960
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here130
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded8
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded112
Hospitals that filed this code3,211

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 July 20, 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 Insj Non-Tunneled Central Venous Cath Age 5 Yr/>.

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, “Central line placement, age 5 or older, not tunneled (CPT 36556) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-36556-central-line-placement-age-5-or-older-not-tunneled