HRHospitalRates.comCompare prices

Procedure price report · Tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy

Removal of leftover tonsil tags

CPT 42860the billing code this page is about

Trimming or removal of small pieces of tonsil tissue remaining after a previous tonsil operation.

Hospitals typically charge $1,389 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 299 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,339. Most fall between $333 and $5,269 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
299
States
41
Filings dated
Mar 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 299 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
$227$374$1,389$5,171$8,182

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 36× what the cheapest tenth charges ($227 vs $8,182).

How the prices are spread

$184 – $269: 21 hospitals$184$269 – $393: 47 hospitals$393 – $575: 32 hospitals$393$575 – $840: 13 hospitals$840 – $1,227: 21 hospitals$840$1,227 – $1,794: 4 hospitals$1,794 – $2,621: 7 hospitals$1,794$2,621 – $3,831: 23 hospitals$3,831 – $5,599: 66 hospitals$3,831$5,599 – $8,182: 40 hospitals$5,599median $1,389price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (274 of 299 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$184$26921
$269$39347
$393$57532
$575$84013
$840$1,22721
$1,227$1,7944
$1,794$2,6217
$2,621$3,83123
$3,831$5,59966
$5,599$8,18240

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$3,387
Median cash price$1,389
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.41×

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 $1,389.

Alaska: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $342 across 15 hospitalsIL$342Wisconsin: median $1,029 across 24 hospitalsWI$1,029Michigan: median $4,559 across 15 hospitalsMI$4,559New York: median $3,838 across 24 hospitalsNY$3,838Massachusetts: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $549 across 11 hospitalsOR$549Nevada: 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 $466 across 16 hospitalsIA$466Indiana: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureINOhio: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureOHPennsylvania: median $103 across 18 hospitalsPA$103New Jersey: median $3,986 across 22 hospitalsNJ$3,986Connecticut: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $8,182 across 28 hospitalsCA$8,182Utah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceWVVirginia: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceVAMaryland: 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: 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: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $321 across 13 hospitalsOK$321Louisiana: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMSAlabama: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceGAHawaii: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $5,171 across 20 hospitalsTX$5,171Florida: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,389. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA28$8,182+489%$7,223 – $8,182
Texas TX20$5,171+272%$5,171 – $5,171
Michigan MI15$4,559+228%$379 – $6,628
New Jersey NJ22$3,986+187%$3,590 – $5,419
New York NY24$3,838+176%$575 – $4,139
Wisconsin WI24$1,029−26%$1,029 – $4,654
Oregon OR11$549−60%$362 – $549
Iowa IA16$466−66%$466 – $466
Illinois IL15$342−75%$227 – $692
Oklahoma OK13$321−77%$321 – $6,612
Pennsylvania PA18$103−93%$88 – $5,483
Ohio OH8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Indiana IN5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not 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
Alabama AL1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC1not 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 $1,389.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care239$3,110$333 – $5,467
Children’s6fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access54$1,029$349 – $4,654
Ownership
For-profit27$2,981$227 – $5,299
Government40$1,212$342 – $3,838
Non-profit232$1,029$333 – $5,269
System affiliation
Part of a system249$2,727$330 – $5,467
Independent50$679$336 – $3,434

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$800
Median cash price$1,389
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

187 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,029 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,039; most fall between $321 and $6,628.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 187 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
$206$327$1,029$5,171$8,182

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 40× what the cheapest tenth charges ($206 vs $8,182).

Of the 199 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 187 gave a usable cash price; 9 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 3 a list price only.

How complete is this

299 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (8%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 328 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted299
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here25
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 — excluded3
Hospitals that filed this code328

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 5, 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 Tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as PR Excision of Tonsil Tags.

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 leftover tonsil tags (CPT 42860) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-42860-removal-of-leftover-tonsil-tags