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

Biopsy survey of the upper throat to find a hidden cancer

CPT 42806the billing code this page is about

Tissue samples taken from several spots in the area behind the nose when a cancer has spread but the original site is unknown.

Hospitals typically charge $2,450 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 377 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,012. Most fall between $300 and $4,139 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
377
States
45
Filings dated
Jun 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 377 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
$218$365$2,450$3,838$5,685

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 26× what the cheapest tenth charges ($218 vs $5,685).

How the prices are spread

$150 – $223: 21 hospitals$150$223 – $332: 45 hospitals$332 – $494: 43 hospitals$332$494 – $736: 31 hospitals$736 – $1,095: 11 hospitals$736$1,095 – $1,630: 4 hospitals$1,630 – $2,426: 15 hospitals$1,630$2,426 – $3,610: 84 hospitals$3,610 – $5,373: 57 hospitals$3,610$5,373 – $7,997: 30 hospitals$5,373median $2,450price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (341 of 377 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$150$22321
$223$33245
$332$49443
$494$73631
$736$1,09511
$1,095$1,6304
$1,630$2,42615
$2,426$3,61084
$3,610$5,37357
$5,373$7,99730

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$3,387
Median cash price$2,450
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.72×

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 $2,450.

Alaska: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: median $3,212 across 10 hospitalsID$3,212Montana: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $317 across 16 hospitalsIL$317Wisconsin: median $5,685 across 11 hospitalsWI$5,685Michigan: median $333 across 32 hospitalsMI$333New York: median $3,838 across 26 hospitalsNY$3,838Massachusetts: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: median $544 across 15 hospitalsIA$544Indiana: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureINOhio: median $424 across 13 hospitalsOH$424Pennsylvania: median $3,802 across 24 hospitalsPA$3,802New Jersey: median $4,290 across 30 hospitalsNJ$4,290Connecticut: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceCTRhode Island: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $3,018 across 44 hospitalsCA$3,018Utah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $1,762 across 11 hospitalsVA$1,762Maryland: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 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: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $233 across 13 hospitalsOK$233Louisiana: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $2,892 across 21 hospitalsTX$2,892Florida: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $2,450. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Wisconsin WI11$5,685+132%$1,884 – $5,685
New Jersey NJ30$4,290+75%$3,590 – $5,339
New York NY26$3,838+57%$538 – $3,838
Pennsylvania PA24$3,802+55%$95 – $5,036
Idaho ID10$3,212+31%$2,450 – $8,795
California CA44$3,018+23%$2,266 – $3,214
Texas TX21$2,892+18%$2,892 – $3,181
Virginia VA11$1,762−28%$96 – $2,560
Iowa IA15$544−78%$544 – $544
Ohio OH13$424−83%$407 – $3,434
Michigan MI32$333−86%$238 – $2,938
Illinois IL16$317−87%$217 – $782
Oklahoma OK13$233−90%$233 – $6,612
Missouri MO9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Georgia GA7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Indiana IN4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY1not 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 $2,450.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care326$2,667$332 – $4,139
Children’s6fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access44$406$262 – $5,685
Ownership
For-profit30$2,892$217 – $5,299
Government45$676$305 – $3,838
Non-profit301$2,560$310 – $4,139
System affiliation
Part of a system323$2,892$310 – $4,327
Independent54$501$267 – $3,212

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$931
Median cash price$2,450
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

242 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $921 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,685; most fall between $253 and $3,214.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 242 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
$217$310$921$3,181$5,036

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 23× what the cheapest tenth charges ($217 vs $5,036).

Of the 260 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 242 gave a usable cash price; 13 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 5 a list price only.

How complete is this

377 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (10%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 421 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted377
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here36
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 — excluded6
Hospitals that filed this code421

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 23, 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 PR Biopsy Nasopharynx,Survey.

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 survey of the upper throat to find a hidden cancer (CPT 42806) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-42806-biopsy-survey-of-the-upper-throat-to-find-a-hidden-cancer