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Procedure price report · Other OR upper GI therapeutic procedures

Laparoscopic cutting of esophagus muscle for achalasia

CPT 43279the billing code this page is about

Through small abdominal incisions, the muscle at the lower end of the esophagus is divided to relieve difficulty swallowing, with an anti-reflux wrap added if performed.

Hospitals typically charge $3,010 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 278 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $3,451. Most fall between $1,654 and $6,949 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
278
States
46
Filings dated
Mar 2023 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 23, 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 278 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
$1,283$1,899$3,010$5,822$10,444

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.1× what the cheapest tenth charges ($1,283 vs $10,444).

How the prices are spread

$656 – $938: 6 hospitals$656$938 – $1,343: 15 hospitals$1,343 – $1,923: 37 hospitals$1,343$1,923 – $2,752: 60 hospitals$2,752 – $3,939: 45 hospitals$2,752$3,939 – $5,638: 21 hospitals$5,638 – $8,069: 47 hospitals$5,638$8,069 – $11,550: 7 hospitals$11,550 – $16,532: 6 hospitals$11,550$16,532 – $23,662: 9 hospitals$16,532median $3,010price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (253 of 278 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$656$9386
$938$1,34315
$1,343$1,92337
$1,923$2,75260
$2,752$3,93945
$3,939$5,63821
$5,638$8,06947
$8,069$11,5507
$11,550$16,5326
$16,532$23,6629

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $3,010.

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: 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: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $2,136 across 18 hospitalsIL$2,136Wisconsin: median $7,279 across 25 hospitalsWI$7,279Michigan: median $1,818 across 26 hospitalsMI$1,818New York: median $2,038 across 16 hospitalsNY$2,038Massachusetts: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 2 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 $3,158 across 16 hospitalsIA$3,158Indiana: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureINOhio: median $3,187 across 14 hospitalsOH$3,187Pennsylvania: median $249 across 16 hospitalsPA$249New Jersey: median $4,881 across 20 hospitalsNJ$4,881Connecticut: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $3,645 across 11 hospitalsCA$3,645Utah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSCOklahoma: median $2,108 across 11 hospitalsOK$2,108Louisiana: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTXFlorida: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $3,010. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Wisconsin WI25$7,279+142%$6,949 – $7,279
New Jersey NJ20$4,881+62%$1,774 – $5,855
California CA11$3,645+21%$2,556 – $9,402
Ohio OH14$3,187+6%$1,299 – $5,746
Iowa IA16$3,158+5%$3,158 – $3,158
Illinois IL18$2,136−29%$1,024 – $2,997
Oklahoma OK11$2,108−30%$2,108 – $2,108
New York NY16$2,038−32%$1,898 – $3,815
Michigan MI26$1,818−40%$1,502 – $1,980
Pennsylvania PA16$249−92%$212 – $3,118
Oregon OR9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Indiana IN3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Texas TX3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Georgia GA2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT1not 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 $3,010.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care227$2,997$1,654 – $6,370
Children’s9fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access40$3,158$1,393 – $7,279
Ownership
For-profit19fewer than 20 hospitals
Government33$3,296$1,448 – $5,822
Non-profit224$2,997$1,774 – $6,949
System affiliation
Part of a system221$2,997$1,654 – $7,279
Independent57$3,167$1,899 – $4,387

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$3,948
Median cash price$3,010
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

167 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $2,444 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,672; most fall between $1,393 and $5,036.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 167 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
$798$1,830$2,444$4,121$7,279

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.1× what the cheapest tenth charges ($798 vs $7,279).

Of the 195 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 167 gave a usable cash price; 17 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 11 a list price only.

How complete is this

278 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (7%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 317 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted278
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here27
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded12
Hospitals that filed this code317

Sections not shown for this setting

  • Against Medicare: Medicare has no separately payable national outpatient (OPPS) rate for this code, so there is nothing honest to compare against.
  • 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 23, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 23, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Related procedures

Part of the Other OR upper GI therapeutic procedures family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Laps Esophagomyotomy W/Fundoplasty if Performed.

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, “Laparoscopic cutting of esophagus muscle for achalasia (CPT 43279) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-43279-laparoscopic-cutting-of-esophagus-muscle-for-achalasia