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Procedure price report · Injection or ligation of esophageal varices

Upper endoscopy with banding of enlarged veins

CPT 43244the billing code this page is about

A flexible scope is passed through the mouth and rubber bands are placed on swollen veins of the esophagus or stomach to close them off.

Hospitals typically charge $1,925 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,220 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,018. Most fall between $706 and $3,856 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,220
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 1,220 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
$465$898$1,925$3,414$5,308

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($465 vs $5,308).

How the prices are spread

$340 – $454: 63 hospitals$340$454 – $607: 75 hospitals$607 – $813: 92 hospitals$607$813 – $1,087: 56 hospitals$1,087 – $1,454: 125 hospitals$1,087$1,454 – $1,945: 148 hospitals$1,945 – $2,601: 183 hospitals$1,945$2,601 – $3,479: 125 hospitals$3,479 – $4,654: 131 hospitals$3,479$4,654 – $6,225: 109 hospitals$4,654median $1,925price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,107 of 1,220 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$340$45463
$454$60775
$607$81392
$813$1,08756
$1,087$1,454125
$1,454$1,945148
$1,945$2,601183
$2,601$3,479125
$3,479$4,654131
$4,654$6,225109

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$1,960
Median cash price$1,925
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.98×

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 $1,925.

Alaska: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $1,380 across 13 hospitalsNH$1,380Washington: median $1,785 across 25 hospitalsWA$1,785Idaho: median $3,908 across 12 hospitalsID$3,908Montana: median $1,117 across 10 hospitalsMT$1,117North Dakota: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $1,780 across 44 hospitalsMN$1,780Illinois: median $1,177 across 41 hospitalsIL$1,177Wisconsin: median $1,568 across 37 hospitalsWI$1,568Michigan: median $937 across 39 hospitalsMI$937New York: median $1,163 across 56 hospitalsNY$1,163Massachusetts: median $2,708 across 38 hospitalsMA$2,708Oregon: median $1,035 across 15 hospitalsOR$1,035Nevada: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 3 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 $621 across 26 hospitalsIA$621Indiana: median $2,074 across 21 hospitalsIN$2,074Ohio: median $3,486 across 71 hospitalsOH$3,486Pennsylvania: median $2,476 across 68 hospitalsPA$2,476New Jersey: median $2,531 across 39 hospitalsNJ$2,531Connecticut: median $4,505 across 17 hospitalsCT$4,505Rhode Island: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $2,503 across 92 hospitalsCA$2,503Utah: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $2,041 across 19 hospitalsCO$2,041Nebraska: median $575 across 13 hospitalsNE$575Missouri: median $1,887 across 34 hospitalsMO$1,887Kentucky: median $1,004 across 17 hospitalsKY$1,004West Virginia: median $580 across 21 hospitalsWV$580Virginia: median $1,331 across 26 hospitalsVA$1,331Maryland: 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 $2,355 across 10 hospitalsAZ$2,355New Mexico: median $2,353 across 18 hospitalsNM$2,353Kansas: median $459 across 14 hospitalsKS$459Arkansas: median $715 across 12 hospitalsAR$715Tennessee: median $941 across 30 hospitalsTN$941North Carolina: median $1,840 across 21 hospitalsNC$1,840South Carolina: median $2,310 across 25 hospitalsSC$2,310Oklahoma: median $1,688 across 23 hospitalsOK$1,688Louisiana: median $764 across 28 hospitalsLA$764Mississippi: median $1,625 across 23 hospitalsMS$1,625Alabama: median $1,909 across 20 hospitalsAL$1,909Georgia: median $1,646 across 32 hospitalsGA$1,646Hawaii: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $1,468 across 79 hospitalsTX$1,468Florida: median $2,091 across 38 hospitalsFL$2,091
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,925. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Connecticut CT17$4,505+134%$2,334 – $6,602
Idaho ID12$3,908+103%$1,139 – $4,686
Ohio OH71$3,486+81%$2,203 – $5,672
Massachusetts MA38$2,708+41%$1,825 – $5,323
New Jersey NJ39$2,531+32%$2,201 – $5,339
California CA92$2,503+30%$1,222 – $5,986
Pennsylvania PA68$2,476+29%$1,341 – $4,105
Arizona AZ10$2,355+22%$375 – $3,958
New Mexico NM18$2,353+22%$1,167 – $3,856
South Carolina SC25$2,310+20%$1,588 – $4,841
Florida FL38$2,091+9%$1,636 – $3,322
Indiana IN21$2,074+8%$446 – $5,259
Colorado CO19$2,041+6%$939 – $3,443
Alabama AL20$1,909−1%$1,110 – $5,481
Missouri MO34$1,887−2%$898 – $3,105
North Carolina NC21$1,840−4%$1,385 – $2,526
Washington WA25$1,785−7%$500 – $3,914
Minnesota MN44$1,780−8%$889 – $2,906
Oklahoma OK23$1,688−12%$340 – $3,087
Georgia GA32$1,646−14%$1,269 – $3,956
Mississippi MS23$1,625−16%$1,085 – $3,038
Wisconsin WI37$1,568−19%$1,380 – $2,238
Texas TX79$1,468−24%$770 – $2,660
New Hampshire NH13$1,380−28%$277 – $2,767
Virginia VA26$1,331−31%$806 – $4,008
Illinois IL41$1,177−39%$621 – $2,685
New York NY56$1,163−40%$598 – $3,205
Montana MT10$1,117−42%$672 – $2,275
Oregon OR15$1,035−46%$439 – $4,007
Kentucky KY17$1,004−48%$403 – $7,617
Tennessee TN30$941−51%$538 – $2,399
Michigan MI39$937−51%$502 – $2,639
Louisiana LA28$764−60%$577 – $1,555
Arkansas AR12$715−63%$715 – $2,205
Iowa IA26$621−68%$522 – $2,879
West Virginia WV21$580−70%$255 – $2,140
Nebraska NE13$575−70%$526 – $1,201
Kansas KS14$459−76%$368 – $1,102
Hawaii HI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY3not 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 $1,925.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care994$2,091$806 – $4,017
Children’s20$2,205$975 – $4,001
Critical access201$1,321$522 – $2,740
Ownership
For-profit149$2,353$1,093 – $4,279
Government191$1,666$684 – $3,003
Non-profit875$1,942$684 – $3,880
System affiliation
Part of a system997$2,087$806 – $3,958
Independent223$1,380$528 – $3,273

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$3,611
Median cash price$1,925
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

764 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,780 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,923; most fall between $679 and $3,631.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 764 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
$446$806$1,780$3,264$5,308

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($446 vs $5,308).

Of the 823 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 764 gave a usable cash price; 24 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 35 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,220 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (31%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,311 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,220
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here46
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded7
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded38
Hospitals that filed this code1,311

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 Injection or ligation of esophageal varices family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Egd Band Ligation Esophgeal/Gastric Varices.

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 banding of enlarged veins (CPT 43244) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-43244-upper-endoscopy-with-banding-of-enlarged-veins