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Procedure price report · Nonoperative removal of foreign body

Rigid scope removal of an object from the esophagus

CPT 43194the billing code this page is about

Examination of the esophagus through the mouth with a rigid scope to find and remove a swallowed or lodged foreign object.

Hospitals typically charge $1,255 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 454 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,557. Most fall between $383 and $3,484 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
454
States
48
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 454 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
$247$479$1,255$2,848$5,458

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 22× what the cheapest tenth charges ($247 vs $5,458).

How the prices are spread

$221 – $311: 41 hospitals$221$311 – $438: 42 hospitals$438 – $616: 40 hospitals$438$616 – $866: 20 hospitals$866 – $1,218: 56 hospitals$866$1,218 – $1,714: 34 hospitals$1,714 – $2,411: 63 hospitals$1,714$2,411 – $3,393: 37 hospitals$3,393 – $4,773: 44 hospitals$3,393$4,773 – $6,714: 44 hospitals$4,773median $1,255price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (421 of 454 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$221$31141
$311$43842
$438$61640
$616$86620
$866$1,21856
$1,218$1,71434
$1,714$2,41163
$2,411$3,39337
$3,393$4,77344
$4,773$6,71444

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$1,960
Median cash price$1,255
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.64×

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 $1,255.

Alaska: 2 hospitals 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: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $872 across 28 hospitalsMN$872Illinois: median $346 across 18 hospitalsIL$346Wisconsin: median $1,793 across 29 hospitalsWI$1,793Michigan: median $396 across 15 hospitalsMI$396New York: median $2,245 across 28 hospitalsNY$2,245Massachusetts: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIAIndiana: median $591 across 17 hospitalsIN$591Ohio: median $2,038 across 21 hospitalsOH$2,038Pennsylvania: median $1,286 across 24 hospitalsPA$1,286New Jersey: median $3,986 across 24 hospitalsNJ$3,986Connecticut: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $3,908 across 45 hospitalsCA$3,908Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: median $439 across 10 hospitalsNE$439Missouri: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: median $1,255 across 16 hospitalsSC$1,255Oklahoma: median $1,008 across 12 hospitalsOK$1,008Louisiana: median $1,021 across 11 hospitalsLA$1,021Mississippi: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 4 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 $247 across 20 hospitalsTX$247Florida: median $3,021 across 10 hospitalsFL$3,021
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,255. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
New Jersey NJ24$3,986+218%$2,100 – $5,729
California CA45$3,908+211%$3,239 – $6,714
Florida FL10$3,021+141%$913 – $3,021
New York NY28$2,245+79%$357 – $2,278
Ohio OH21$2,038+62%$621 – $5,807
Wisconsin WI29$1,793+43%$928 – $2,848
Pennsylvania PA24$1,286+2%$124 – $4,085
South Carolina SC16$1,2550%$1,255 – $2,280
Louisiana LA11$1,021−19%$780 – $1,698
Oklahoma OK12$1,008−20%$566 – $2,158
Minnesota MN28$872−30%$678 – $1,267
Indiana IN17$591−53%$244 – $799
Nebraska NE10$439−65%$346 – $579
Michigan MI15$396−68%$278 – $2,639
Illinois IL18$346−72%$244 – $5,383
Texas TX20$247−80%$247 – $980
Iowa IA9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Georgia GA1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT1not 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 $1,255.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care350$1,452$393 – $3,484
Children’s14fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access88$872$383 – $2,353
Ownership
For-profit30$928$244 – $2,455
Government67$932$396 – $2,683
Non-profit355$1,255$391 – $3,574
System affiliation
Part of a system377$1,267$404 – $3,484
Independent77$579$345 – $2,423

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$1,930
Median cash price$1,255
Cash as a share of list, median hospital58%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 42%. 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

286 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,146 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,425; most fall between $345 and $3,484.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 286 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
$244$393$1,146$3,400$6,705

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 27× what the cheapest tenth charges ($244 vs $6,705).

Of the 312 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 286 gave a usable cash price; 14 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 12 a list price only.

How complete is this

454 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (11%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 491 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted454
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here29
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 — excluded7
Hospitals that filed this code491

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 Nonoperative removal of foreign body family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Esophagoscopy Rig Transoral Removal Foreign Body.

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, “Rigid scope removal of an object from the esophagus (CPT 43194) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-43194-rigid-scope-removal-of-an-object-from-the-esophagus