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Procedure price report · Esophageal dilatation

Esophagus widening over a guide wire with a rigid scope

CPT 43196the billing code this page is about

A rigid scope is passed through the mouth and dilators are advanced over a guide wire to stretch open a narrowed esophagus.

Hospitals typically charge $2,047 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 357 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,176. Most fall between $364 and $5,096 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
357
States
44
Filings dated
Dec 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 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
$260$461$2,047$4,519$6,910

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 27× what the cheapest tenth charges ($260 vs $6,910).

How the prices are spread

$213 – $304: 23 hospitals$213$304 – $433: 43 hospitals$433 – $616: 34 hospitals$433$616 – $878: 13 hospitals$878 – $1,251: 22 hospitals$878$1,251 – $1,782: 13 hospitals$1,782 – $2,538: 56 hospitals$1,782$2,538 – $3,614: 16 hospitals$3,614 – $5,148: 55 hospitals$3,614$5,148 – $7,333: 48 hospitals$5,148median $2,047price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (323 of 357 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$213$30423
$304$43343
$433$61634
$616$87813
$878$1,25122
$1,251$1,78213
$1,782$2,53856
$2,538$3,61416
$3,614$5,14855
$5,148$7,33348

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$1,960
Median cash price$2,047
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.04×

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 $2,047.

Alaska: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMEVermont: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMTNorth Dakota: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $1,340 across 19 hospitalsIL$1,340Wisconsin: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWIMichigan: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMINew York: median $1,823 across 30 hospitalsNY$1,823Massachusetts: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 5 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 $490 across 20 hospitalsIA$490Indiana: median $456 across 18 hospitalsIN$456Ohio: median $3,778 across 10 hospitalsOH$3,778Pennsylvania: median $149 across 17 hospitalsPA$149New Jersey: median $3,986 across 24 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 $5,096 across 45 hospitalsCA$5,096Utah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: 8 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: 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: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $339 across 10 hospitalsTN$339North 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 $323 across 13 hospitalsOK$323Louisiana: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 2 hospitals 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 $980 across 12 hospitalsTX$980Florida: median $3,816 across 21 hospitalsFL$3,816
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $2,047. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA45$5,096+149%$2,857 – $6,910
New Jersey NJ24$3,986+95%$2,100 – $5,741
Florida FL21$3,816+86%$2,174 – $4,297
Ohio OH10$3,778+85%$227 – $12,612
New York NY30$1,823−11%$364 – $2,245
Illinois IL19$1,340−35%$257 – $6,646
Texas TX12$980−52%$980 – $4,036
Iowa IA20$490−76%$490 – $587
Indiana IN18$456−78%$257 – $649
Tennessee TN10$339−83%$182 – $1,143
Oklahoma OK13$323−84%$323 – $2,302
Pennsylvania PA17$149−93%$121 – $3,880
Louisiana LA8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Michigan MI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wisconsin WI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT1not 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 $2,047.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care307$2,102$375 – $5,096
Children’s6fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access43$889$341 – $4,686
Ownership
For-profit26$1,452$257 – $4,415
Government53$2,245$587 – $4,036
Non-profit277$2,004$364 – $5,408
System affiliation
Part of a system305$2,073$364 – $5,096
Independent52$937$372 – $3,854

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$3,105
Median cash price$2,047
Cash as a share of list, median hospital56%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 44%. 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

222 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,452 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,040; most fall between $359 and $5,096.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 222 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
$260$400$1,452$5,096$6,910

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 27× what the cheapest tenth charges ($260 vs $6,910).

Of the 239 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 222 gave a usable cash price; 10 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 7 a list price only.

How complete is this

357 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (9%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 381 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted357
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here16
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded2
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded6
Hospitals that filed this code381

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 Esophageal dilatation family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Esophagoscopy Rig Transoral Guide Wire Dilation.

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, “Esophagus widening over a guide wire with a rigid scope (CPT 43196) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-43196-esophagus-widening-over-a-guide-wire-with-a-rigid-scope