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Procedure price report · Appendectomy

Keyhole removal of the appendix

CPT 44970the billing code this page is about

Removal of the appendix through small abdominal incisions using a camera and instruments.

Hospitals typically charge $3,664 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,276 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $4,644. Most fall between $1,191 and $12,377 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,276
States
50
Filings dated
Aug 2022 – 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 1,276 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
$830$1,346$3,664$9,986$19,657

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 24× what the cheapest tenth charges ($830 vs $19,657).

How the prices are spread

$621 – $900: 92 hospitals$621$900 – $1,304: 142 hospitals$1,304 – $1,891: 189 hospitals$1,304$1,891 – $2,740: 85 hospitals$2,740 – $3,971: 81 hospitals$2,740$3,971 – $5,756: 94 hospitals$5,756 – $8,342: 163 hospitals$5,756$8,342 – $12,091: 106 hospitals$12,091 – $17,524: 99 hospitals$12,091$17,524 – $25,398: 99 hospitals$17,524median $3,664price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,150 of 1,276 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$621$90092
$900$1,304142
$1,304$1,891189
$1,891$2,74085
$2,740$3,97181
$3,971$5,75694
$5,756$8,342163
$8,342$12,091106
$12,091$17,52499
$17,524$25,39899

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$6,176
Median cash price$3,664
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.59×

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 $3,664.

Alaska: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $1,006 across 11 hospitalsME$1,006Vermont: median $1,282 across 11 hospitalsVT$1,282New Hampshire: median $1,048 across 13 hospitalsNH$1,048Washington: median $1,804 across 29 hospitalsWA$1,804Idaho: median $6,503 across 18 hospitalsID$6,503Montana: median $1,256 across 15 hospitalsMT$1,256North Dakota: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $1,687 across 52 hospitalsMN$1,687Illinois: median $2,618 across 46 hospitalsIL$2,618Wisconsin: median $3,661 across 44 hospitalsWI$3,661Michigan: median $1,341 across 48 hospitalsMI$1,341New York: median $6,904 across 72 hospitalsNY$6,904Massachusetts: median $4,076 across 15 hospitalsMA$4,076Oregon: median $1,654 across 37 hospitalsOR$1,654Nevada: median $4,726 across 10 hospitalsNV$4,726Wyoming: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: median $4,352 across 10 hospitalsSD$4,352Iowa: median $1,473 across 66 hospitalsIA$1,473Indiana: median $2,402 across 36 hospitalsIN$2,402Ohio: median $17,445 across 54 hospitalsOH$17,445Pennsylvania: median $4,170 across 39 hospitalsPA$4,170New Jersey: median $6,463 across 37 hospitalsNJ$6,463Connecticut: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $8,329 across 72 hospitalsCA$8,329Utah: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $1,279 across 20 hospitalsCO$1,279Nebraska: median $1,934 across 33 hospitalsNE$1,934Missouri: median $6,025 across 40 hospitalsMO$6,025Kentucky: median $1,399 across 19 hospitalsKY$1,399West Virginia: median $5,273 across 27 hospitalsWV$5,273Virginia: median $11,406 across 26 hospitalsVA$11,406Maryland: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $7,419 across 13 hospitalsAZ$7,419New Mexico: median $5,404 across 14 hospitalsNM$5,404Kansas: median $1,312 across 40 hospitalsKS$1,312Arkansas: median $4,615 across 20 hospitalsAR$4,615Tennessee: median $2,402 across 33 hospitalsTN$2,402North Carolina: median $3,105 across 15 hospitalsNC$3,105South Carolina: median $15,557 across 11 hospitalsSC$15,557Oklahoma: median $1,503 across 25 hospitalsOK$1,503Louisiana: median $5,366 across 24 hospitalsLA$5,366Mississippi: median $5,202 across 19 hospitalsMS$5,202Alabama: median $5,395 across 15 hospitalsAL$5,395Georgia: median $6,034 across 24 hospitalsGA$6,034Hawaii: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $7,084 across 51 hospitalsTX$7,084Florida: median $10,257 across 23 hospitalsFL$10,257
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $3,664. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Ohio OH54$17,445+376%$1,754 – $29,636
South Carolina SC11$15,557+325%$9,860 – $23,731
Virginia VA26$11,406+211%$2,402 – $20,010
Florida FL23$10,257+180%$814 – $21,806
California CA72$8,329+127%$1,730 – $22,680
Arizona AZ13$7,419+102%$859 – $20,296
Texas TX51$7,084+93%$2,796 – $13,547
New York NY72$6,904+88%$1,493 – $19,657
Idaho ID18$6,503+77%$1,326 – $15,131
New Jersey NJ37$6,463+76%$5,110 – $7,786
Georgia GA24$6,034+65%$1,379 – $14,100
Missouri MO40$6,025+64%$1,345 – $11,529
New Mexico NM14$5,404+47%$1,124 – $17,550
Alabama AL15$5,395+47%$1,694 – $18,244
Louisiana LA24$5,366+46%$1,543 – $9,505
West Virginia WV27$5,273+44%$1,159 – $8,684
Mississippi MS19$5,202+42%$1,435 – $17,092
Nevada NV10$4,726+29%$2,147 – $6,575
Arkansas AR20$4,615+26%$1,330 – $5,823
South Dakota SD10$4,352+19%$1,610 – $12,716
Pennsylvania PA39$4,170+14%$358 – $10,994
Massachusetts MA15$4,076+11%$1,514 – $11,714
Wisconsin WI44$3,6610%$2,099 – $5,594
North Carolina NC15$3,105−15%$1,108 – $15,980
Illinois IL46$2,618−29%$1,128 – $9,069
Indiana IN36$2,402−34%$720 – $14,285
Tennessee TN33$2,402−34%$1,031 – $8,713
Nebraska NE33$1,934−47%$1,040 – $5,562
Washington WA29$1,804−51%$1,112 – $6,401
Minnesota MN52$1,687−54%$1,025 – $3,182
Oregon OR37$1,654−55%$1,112 – $2,537
Oklahoma OK25$1,503−59%$838 – $11,663
Iowa IA66$1,473−60%$1,118 – $2,711
Kentucky KY19$1,399−62%$683 – $12,363
Michigan MI48$1,341−63%$993 – $8,656
Kansas KS40$1,312−64%$621 – $5,820
Vermont VT11$1,282−65%$826 – $2,410
Colorado CO20$1,279−65%$788 – $4,218
Montana MT15$1,256−66%$718 – $2,791
New Hampshire NH13$1,048−71%$895 – $2,300
Maine ME11$1,006−73%$513 – $2,234
Alaska AK8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI2not 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 $3,664.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care835$6,463$1,399 – $17,092
Children’s14fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access424$1,647$997 – $5,040
Ownership
For-profit139$9,836$2,524 – $19,314
Government277$1,907$1,128 – $7,474
Non-profit857$3,664$1,190 – $12,936
System affiliation
Part of a system942$4,878$1,341 – $14,473
Independent334$1,840$981 – $7,619

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$4,447
Median cash price$3,664
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

600 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,660 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,620; most fall between $800 and $8,008.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 600 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
$493$928$1,660$6,414$13,547

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 27× what the cheapest tenth charges ($493 vs $13,547).

Of the 670 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 600 gave a usable cash price; 27 carried a plausibility flag, 1 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 42 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,276 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (32%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,403 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,276
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here71
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded10
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded45
Hospitals that filed this code1,403

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 Appendectomy family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as PR Lap,Appendectomy.

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, “Keyhole removal of the appendix (CPT 44970) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-44970-keyhole-removal-of-the-appendix