HRHospitalRates.comCompare prices

Procedure price report · Diagnostic procedures on nose, mouth and pharynx

Biopsy of a visible growth in the upper throat

CPT 42804the billing code this page is about

Removal of a tissue sample from a visible lesion in the nasopharynx, the area behind the nose, done as a straightforward procedure.

Hospitals typically charge $1,542 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 582 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,797. Most fall between $322 and $3,935 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
582
States
49
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 582 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
$202$366$1,542$3,696$6,366

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 32× what the cheapest tenth charges ($202 vs $6,366).

How the prices are spread

$151 – $226: 52 hospitals$151$226 – $341: 48 hospitals$341 – $513: 58 hospitals$341$513 – $772: 44 hospitals$772 – $1,162: 45 hospitals$772$1,162 – $1,748: 18 hospitals$1,748 – $2,631: 70 hospitals$1,748$2,631 – $3,959: 103 hospitals$3,959 – $5,958: 47 hospitals$3,959$5,958 – $8,966: 47 hospitals$5,958median $1,542price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (532 of 582 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$151$22652
$226$34148
$341$51358
$513$77244
$772$1,16245
$1,162$1,74818
$1,748$2,63170
$2,631$3,959103
$3,959$5,95847
$5,958$8,96647

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$3,387
Median cash price$1,542
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.46×

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 $1,542.

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: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $774 across 14 hospitalsMN$774Illinois: median $504 across 26 hospitalsIL$504Wisconsin: median $899 across 43 hospitalsWI$899Michigan: median $690 across 37 hospitalsMI$690New York: median $2,717 across 35 hospitalsNY$2,717Massachusetts: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $614 across 15 hospitalsOR$614Nevada: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 4 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 $485 across 16 hospitalsIA$485Indiana: median $601 across 19 hospitalsIN$601Ohio: median $3,607 across 25 hospitalsOH$3,607Pennsylvania: median $1,981 across 22 hospitalsPA$1,981New Jersey: median $4,075 across 32 hospitalsNJ$4,075Connecticut: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $3,401 across 46 hospitalsCA$3,401Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: median $445 across 13 hospitalsMO$445Kentucky: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: median $518 across 10 hospitalsWV$518Virginia: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: median $2,250 across 20 hospitalsNC$2,250South Carolina: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $202 across 13 hospitalsOK$202Louisiana: median $1,350 across 14 hospitalsLA$1,350Mississippi: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $2,463 across 25 hospitalsTX$2,463Florida: median $6,366 across 16 hospitalsFL$6,366
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,542. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Florida FL16$6,366+313%$2,909 – $6,366
New Jersey NJ32$4,075+164%$3,590 – $5,339
Ohio OH25$3,607+134%$335 – $3,795
California CA46$3,401+120%$2,628 – $8,966
New York NY35$2,717+76%$298 – $3,838
Texas TX25$2,463+60%$1,425 – $2,463
North Carolina NC20$2,250+46%$1,427 – $2,297
Pennsylvania PA22$1,981+28%$79 – $5,036
Louisiana LA14$1,350−13%$863 – $2,609
Wisconsin WI43$899−42%$349 – $1,826
Minnesota MN14$774−50%$659 – $2,694
Michigan MI37$690−55%$202 – $3,696
Oregon OR15$614−60%$391 – $2,502
Indiana IN19$601−61%$189 – $900
West Virginia WV10$518−66%$126 – $3,951
Illinois IL26$504−67%$213 – $3,221
Iowa IA16$485−69%$485 – $485
Missouri MO13$445−71%$272 – $3,134
Oklahoma OK13$202−87%$202 – $4,074
Georgia GA9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT1not 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 $1,542.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care468$2,250$341 – $4,327
Children’s10fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access103$601$256 – $1,826
Ownership
For-profit50$2,463$341 – $5,650
Government99$2,161$331 – $3,665
Non-profit432$978$307 – $4,074
System affiliation
Part of a system482$1,826$335 – $4,075
Independent100$601$256 – $3,434

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$1,854
Median cash price$1,542
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

357 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,427 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,673; most fall between $274 and $3,696.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 357 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
$193$349$1,427$3,434$6,984

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 36× what the cheapest tenth charges ($193 vs $6,984).

Of the 389 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 357 gave a usable cash price; 17 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 15 a list price only.

How complete is this

582 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (15%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 641 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted582
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here41
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 code641

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 Diagnostic procedures on nose, mouth and pharynx family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Biopsy Nasopharynx Visible Lesion Simple.

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, “Biopsy of a visible growth in the upper throat (CPT 42804) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-42804-biopsy-of-a-visible-growth-in-the-upper-throat