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Procedure price report · Abdominal paracentesis

Abdominal fluid drainage by needle, without imaging

CPT 49082the billing code this page is about

A needle or catheter is placed through the abdominal wall to withdraw fluid from the abdominal cavity, performed without imaging guidance.

Hospitals typically charge $914 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,591 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $932. Most fall between $378 and $1,673 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,591
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 2,591 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
$219$463$914$1,463$2,455

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($219 vs $2,455).

How the prices are spread

$141 – $192: 86 hospitals$141$192 – $261: 102 hospitals$261 – $356: 149 hospitals$261$356 – $484: 233 hospitals$484 – $659: 228 hospitals$484$659 – $898: 336 hospitals$898 – $1,222: 486 hospitals$898$1,222 – $1,664: 309 hospitals$1,664 – $2,265: 241 hospitals$1,664$2,265 – $3,084: 170 hospitals$2,265median $914price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,340 of 2,591 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$141$19286
$192$261102
$261$356149
$356$484233
$484$659228
$659$898336
$898$1,222486
$1,222$1,664309
$1,664$2,265241
$2,265$3,084170

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$927
Median cash price$914
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.99×

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 $914.

Alaska: median $821 across 17 hospitalsAK$821Maine: median $617 across 20 hospitalsME$617Vermont: median $623 across 12 hospitalsVT$623New Hampshire: median $185 across 20 hospitalsNH$185Washington: median $552 across 71 hospitalsWA$552Idaho: median $947 across 19 hospitalsID$947Montana: median $337 across 23 hospitalsMT$337North Dakota: median $960 across 17 hospitalsND$960Minnesota: median $725 across 87 hospitalsMN$725Illinois: median $833 across 106 hospitalsIL$833Wisconsin: median $785 across 88 hospitalsWI$785Michigan: median $828 across 80 hospitalsMI$828New York: median $1,109 across 96 hospitalsNY$1,109Massachusetts: median $1,134 across 44 hospitalsMA$1,134Oregon: median $376 across 50 hospitalsOR$376Nevada: median $1,014 across 21 hospitalsNV$1,014Wyoming: median $574 across 14 hospitalsWY$574South Dakota: median $743 across 20 hospitalsSD$743Iowa: median $528 across 69 hospitalsIA$528Indiana: median $720 across 66 hospitalsIN$720Ohio: median $1,434 across 115 hospitalsOH$1,434Pennsylvania: median $1,456 across 102 hospitalsPA$1,456New Jersey: median $2,234 across 54 hospitalsNJ$2,234Connecticut: median $595 across 19 hospitalsCT$595Rhode Island: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $1,669 across 179 hospitalsCA$1,669Utah: median $923 across 31 hospitalsUT$923Colorado: median $820 across 52 hospitalsCO$820Nebraska: median $512 across 55 hospitalsNE$512Missouri: median $838 across 62 hospitalsMO$838Kentucky: median $1,063 across 44 hospitalsKY$1,063West Virginia: median $1,144 across 33 hospitalsWV$1,144Virginia: median $901 across 54 hospitalsVA$901Maryland: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $930 across 38 hospitalsAZ$930New Mexico: median $488 across 27 hospitalsNM$488Kansas: median $411 across 59 hospitalsKS$411Arkansas: median $410 across 32 hospitalsAR$410Tennessee: median $446 across 48 hospitalsTN$446North Carolina: median $867 across 56 hospitalsNC$867South Carolina: median $961 across 42 hospitalsSC$961Oklahoma: median $663 across 61 hospitalsOK$663Louisiana: median $679 across 44 hospitalsLA$679Mississippi: median $487 across 44 hospitalsMS$487Alabama: median $916 across 35 hospitalsAL$916Georgia: median $1,144 across 81 hospitalsGA$1,144Hawaii: median $1,149 across 14 hospitalsHI$1,149Texas: median $1,223 across 157 hospitalsTX$1,223Florida: median $1,436 across 94 hospitalsFL$1,436
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $914. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
New Jersey NJ54$2,234+144%$1,038 – $4,627
California CA179$1,669+83%$789 – $2,666
Pennsylvania PA102$1,456+59%$853 – $2,358
Florida FL94$1,436+57%$763 – $3,229
Ohio OH115$1,434+57%$747 – $2,363
Texas TX157$1,223+34%$615 – $1,782
Hawaii HI14$1,149+26%$283 – $2,948
Georgia GA81$1,144+25%$634 – $1,400
West Virginia WV33$1,144+25%$826 – $1,460
Massachusetts MA44$1,134+24%$456 – $2,214
New York NY96$1,109+21%$260 – $2,029
Kentucky KY44$1,063+16%$382 – $1,526
Nevada NV21$1,014+11%$486 – $2,599
South Carolina SC42$961+5%$817 – $1,080
North Dakota ND17$960+5%$199 – $1,398
Idaho ID19$947+4%$334 – $2,526
Arizona AZ38$930+2%$404 – $2,480
Utah UT31$923+1%$793 – $1,209
Alabama AL35$9160%$573 – $1,789
Virginia VA54$901−1%$574 – $1,254
North Carolina NC56$867−5%$366 – $1,139
Missouri MO62$838−8%$340 – $1,420
Illinois IL106$833−9%$392 – $1,606
Michigan MI80$828−9%$226 – $1,455
Alaska AK17$821−10%$398 – $1,563
Colorado CO52$820−10%$285 – $1,494
Wisconsin WI88$785−14%$465 – $1,083
South Dakota SD20$743−19%$606 – $1,093
Minnesota MN87$725−21%$358 – $1,080
Indiana IN66$720−21%$439 – $1,559
Louisiana LA44$679−26%$320 – $1,100
Oklahoma OK61$663−27%$332 – $1,152
Vermont VT12$623−32%$305 – $2,024
Maine ME20$617−32%$259 – $894
Connecticut CT19$595−35%$320 – $1,875
Wyoming WY14$574−37%$95 – $1,150
Washington WA71$552−40%$340 – $1,542
Iowa IA69$528−42%$222 – $1,148
Nebraska NE55$512−44%$282 – $897
New Mexico NM27$488−47%$361 – $1,560
Mississippi MS44$487−47%$279 – $814
Tennessee TN48$446−51%$282 – $905
Kansas KS59$411−55%$208 – $893
Arkansas AR32$410−55%$301 – $987
Oregon OR50$376−59%$180 – $1,073
Montana MT23$337−63%$140 – $581
New Hampshire NH20$185−80%$132 – $656
Rhode Island RI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE5not 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 $914.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,855$1,046$488 – $1,858
Children’s29$949$412 – $1,519
Critical access700$528$211 – $1,121
Ownership
For-profit249$1,154$488 – $2,328
Government514$723$283 – $1,341
Non-profit1,821$940$407 – $1,681
System affiliation
Part of a system2,089$971$416 – $1,738
Independent502$648$231 – $1,404

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$1,619
Median cash price$914
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

1,937 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $959 and the average of the middle 60% is $996; most fall between $457 and $1,731.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,937 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
$269$529$959$1,519$2,480

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.2× what the cheapest tenth charges ($269 vs $2,480).

Of the 2,079 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,937 gave a usable cash price; 58 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 84 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,591 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (65%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 2,783 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,591
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here96
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded5
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded91
Hospitals that filed this code2,783

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 July 20, 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 Abdominal paracentesis family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Abdom Paracentesis Dx/Ther W/O Imaging Guidance|REI CLINIC CHARGE.

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, “Abdominal fluid drainage by needle, without imaging (CPT 49082) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-49082-abdominal-fluid-drainage-by-needle-without-imaging