HRHospitalRates.comCompare prices

Procedure price report · Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, biopsy

Upper endoscopy with ultrasound-guided needle biopsy

CPT 43238the billing code this page is about

A scope with an ultrasound probe examines the esophagus, stomach or first part of the small intestine and guides a needle to sample tissue or fluid through the wall; the ultrasound survey is limited to that area.

Hospitals typically charge $2,245 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 892 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,336. Most fall between $770 and $4,317 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
892
States
50
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 892 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
$484$924$2,245$3,807$6,033

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($484 vs $6,033).

How the prices are spread

$374 – $509: 59 hospitals$374$509 – $692: 58 hospitals$692 – $941: 64 hospitals$692$941 – $1,280: 56 hospitals$1,280 – $1,741: 69 hospitals$1,280$1,741 – $2,367: 117 hospitals$2,367 – $3,220: 106 hospitals$2,367$3,220 – $4,379: 147 hospitals$4,379 – $5,956: 81 hospitals$4,379$5,956 – $8,100: 51 hospitals$5,956median $2,245price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (808 of 892 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$374$50959
$509$69258
$692$94164
$941$1,28056
$1,280$1,74169
$1,741$2,367117
$2,367$3,220106
$3,220$4,379147
$4,379$5,95681
$5,956$8,10051

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$1,960
Median cash price$2,245
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.15×

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 $2,245.

Alaska: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $1,397 across 14 hospitalsWA$1,397Idaho: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 6 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 $1,781 across 34 hospitalsMN$1,781Illinois: median $1,320 across 28 hospitalsIL$1,320Wisconsin: median $2,848 across 31 hospitalsWI$2,848Michigan: median $854 across 34 hospitalsMI$854New York: median $2,245 across 54 hospitalsNY$2,245Massachusetts: median $2,798 across 23 hospitalsMA$2,798Oregon: median $1,760 across 11 hospitalsOR$1,760Nevada: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 2 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 $588 across 22 hospitalsIA$588Indiana: median $2,020 across 16 hospitalsIN$2,020Ohio: median $4,205 across 63 hospitalsOH$4,205Pennsylvania: median $3,414 across 36 hospitalsPA$3,414New Jersey: median $2,531 across 39 hospitalsNJ$2,531Connecticut: median $6,226 across 12 hospitalsCT$6,226Rhode Island: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $3,606 across 70 hospitalsCA$3,606Utah: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $1,942 across 18 hospitalsCO$1,942Nebraska: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: median $2,239 across 23 hospitalsMO$2,239Kentucky: median $1,606 across 12 hospitalsKY$1,606West Virginia: median $784 across 13 hospitalsWV$784Virginia: median $2,004 across 20 hospitalsVA$2,004Maryland: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $5,458 across 14 hospitalsAZ$5,458New Mexico: median $1,921 across 12 hospitalsNM$1,921Kansas: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $956 across 17 hospitalsTN$956North Carolina: median $2,173 across 11 hospitalsNC$2,173South Carolina: median $1,704 across 24 hospitalsSC$1,704Oklahoma: median $484 across 17 hospitalsOK$484Louisiana: median $742 across 18 hospitalsLA$742Mississippi: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $2,429 across 28 hospitalsGA$2,429Hawaii: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $1,138 across 54 hospitalsTX$1,138Florida: median $2,757 across 32 hospitalsFL$2,757
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $2,245. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Connecticut CT12$6,226+177%$2,334 – $7,518
Arizona AZ14$5,458+143%$2,355 – $5,458
Ohio OH63$4,205+87%$3,143 – $6,381
California CA70$3,606+61%$1,496 – $5,028
Pennsylvania PA36$3,414+52%$2,224 – $5,972
Wisconsin WI31$2,848+27%$1,294 – $3,570
Massachusetts MA23$2,798+25%$1,542 – $4,878
Florida FL32$2,757+23%$2,189 – $4,373
New Jersey NJ39$2,531+13%$2,201 – $5,419
Georgia GA28$2,429+8%$1,996 – $3,740
New York NY54$2,2450%$731 – $3,675
Missouri MO23$2,2390%$1,051 – $5,263
North Carolina NC11$2,173−3%$1,698 – $2,173
Indiana IN16$2,020−10%$429 – $7,617
Virginia VA20$2,004−11%$357 – $3,686
Colorado CO18$1,942−13%$1,243 – $2,801
New Mexico NM12$1,921−14%$1,645 – $3,366
Minnesota MN34$1,781−21%$551 – $2,650
Oregon OR11$1,760−22%$418 – $4,227
South Carolina SC24$1,704−24%$1,704 – $4,421
Kentucky KY12$1,606−28%$429 – $7,617
Washington WA14$1,397−38%$456 – $4,275
Illinois IL28$1,320−41%$588 – $4,375
Texas TX54$1,138−49%$856 – $2,665
Tennessee TN17$956−57%$269 – $1,093
Michigan MI34$854−62%$778 – $2,639
West Virginia WV13$784−65%$233 – $2,014
Louisiana LA18$742−67%$564 – $1,054
Iowa IA22$588−74%$588 – $971
Oklahoma OK17$484−78%$484 – $3,015
Idaho ID9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD1not 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 $2,245.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care754$2,348$856 – $4,446
Children’s17fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access116$1,294$429 – $3,570
Ownership
For-profit102$2,020$1,082 – $5,353
Government117$2,165$667 – $4,179
Non-profit668$2,334$770 – $4,259
System affiliation
Part of a system759$2,353$854 – $4,378
Independent133$1,417$497 – $3,772

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$3,981
Median cash price$2,245
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

598 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,996 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,135; most fall between $652 and $4,026.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 598 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
$426$856$1,996$3,606$5,323

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($426 vs $5,323).

Of the 660 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 598 gave a usable cash price; 26 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 36 a list price only.

How complete is this

892 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (23%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 969 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted892
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here48
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded5
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded23
Hospitals that filed this code969

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 Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, biopsy family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Egd Intrmural US Needle Aspirate/Biopsy Esophags.

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, “Upper endoscopy with ultrasound-guided needle biopsy (CPT 43238) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-43238-upper-endoscopy-with-ultrasound-guided-needle-biopsy