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Procedure price report · Other therapeutic procedures, hemic and lymphatic system

Removal of neck or armpit lymph cyst with deep dissection

CPT 38555the billing code this page is about

Surgical removal of a fluid-filled lymphatic cyst of the neck or armpit that requires careful dissection around deep nerves and blood vessels.

Hospitals typically charge $4,053 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 245 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $4,068. Most fall between $1,686 and $7,882 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
245
States
39
Filings dated
Mar 2023 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 23, 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 245 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
$1,064$1,839$4,053$7,686$9,475

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.9× what the cheapest tenth charges ($1,064 vs $9,475).

How the prices are spread

$799 – $1,065: 14 hospitals$799$1,065 – $1,418: 9 hospitals$1,418 – $1,889: 28 hospitals$1,418$1,889 – $2,516: 33 hospitals$2,516 – $3,351: 15 hospitals$2,516$3,351 – $4,463: 30 hospitals$4,463 – $5,944: 22 hospitals$4,463$5,944 – $7,916: 33 hospitals$7,916 – $10,544: 31 hospitals$7,916$10,544 – $14,043: 6 hospitals$10,544median $4,053price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (221 of 245 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$799$1,06514
$1,065$1,4189
$1,418$1,88928
$1,889$2,51633
$2,516$3,35115
$3,351$4,46330
$4,463$5,94422
$5,944$7,91633
$7,916$10,54431
$10,544$14,0436

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$6,784
Median cash price$4,053
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.60×

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 $4,053.

Alaska: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMEVermont: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $1,531 across 10 hospitalsIL$1,531Wisconsin: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWIMichigan: median $3,465 across 11 hospitalsMI$3,465New York: median $7,717 across 23 hospitalsNY$7,717Massachusetts: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMAOregon: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: median $2,483 across 14 hospitalsIA$2,483Indiana: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceINOhio: median $4,053 across 11 hospitalsOH$4,053Pennsylvania: median $780 across 18 hospitalsPA$780New Jersey: median $6,311 across 23 hospitalsNJ$6,311Connecticut: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $9,475 across 21 hospitalsCA$9,475Utah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNMKansas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $1,686 across 12 hospitalsOK$1,686Louisiana: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMSAlabama: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $4,329 across 18 hospitalsTX$4,329Florida: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $4,053. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA21$9,475+134%$9,475 – $9,475
New York NY23$7,717+90%$2,551 – $7,717
New Jersey NJ23$6,311+56%$4,627 – $7,225
Texas TX18$4,329+7%$4,329 – $5,052
Ohio OH11$4,0530%$2,405 – $4,173
Michigan MI11$3,465−15%$1,839 – $9,130
Iowa IA14$2,483−39%$2,483 – $2,483
Oklahoma OK12$1,686−58%$1,686 – $1,686
Illinois IL10$1,531−62%$799 – $2,038
Pennsylvania PA18$780−81%$636 – $11,025
Louisiana LA9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Georgia GA1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wisconsin WI1not 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 $4,053.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care207$4,208$1,686 – $8,289
Children’s10fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access28$2,078$1,142 – $5,871
Ownership
For-profit23$3,465$799 – $9,579
Government35$3,465$1,821 – $7,717
Non-profit187$4,053$1,686 – $8,289
System affiliation
Part of a system203$4,172$1,686 – $8,302
Independent42$2,794$1,771 – $6,546

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$3,668
Median cash price$4,053
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

143 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $2,483 and the average of the middle 60% is $4,276; most fall between $1,686 and $9,475.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 143 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
$983$1,686$2,483$6,007$9,475

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.6× what the cheapest tenth charges ($983 vs $9,475).

Of the 152 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 143 gave a usable cash price; 8 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 1 a list price only.

How complete is this

245 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (6%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 261 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted245
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here14
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 — excluded1
Hospitals that filed this code261

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 23, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 23, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Related procedures

Part of the Other therapeutic procedures, hemic and lymphatic system family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Exc Cstic Hygroma Ax/Crv W/Dp Neurovasc Dsj.

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, “Removal of neck or armpit lymph cyst with deep dissection (CPT 38555) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-38555-removal-of-neck-or-armpit-lymph-cyst-with-deep-dissection