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Procedure price report · Other hernia repair

Repair of hernia in the flank or lower back

CPT 49540the billing code this page is about

Open surgery to close a hernia through the muscle wall of the flank or lower back area.

Hospitals typically charge $2,338 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 384 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $3,257. Most fall between $1,094 and $6,904 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
384
States
43
Filings dated
Jan 2024 – 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 384 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
$726$1,166$2,338$6,838$12,807

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 18× what the cheapest tenth charges ($726 vs $12,807).

How the prices are spread

$581 – $805: 25 hospitals$581$805 – $1,115: 44 hospitals$1,115 – $1,545: 59 hospitals$1,115$1,545 – $2,141: 41 hospitals$2,141 – $2,965: 18 hospitals$2,141$2,965 – $4,108: 24 hospitals$4,108 – $5,691: 28 hospitals$4,108$5,691 – $7,884: 66 hospitals$7,884 – $10,922: 12 hospitals$7,884$10,922 – $15,131: 32 hospitals$10,922median $2,338price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (349 of 384 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$581$80525
$805$1,11544
$1,115$1,54559
$1,545$2,14141
$2,141$2,96518
$2,965$4,10824
$4,108$5,69128
$5,691$7,88466
$7,884$10,92212
$10,922$15,13132

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$6,176
Median cash price$2,338
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.38×

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 $2,338.

Alaska: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $1,537 across 11 hospitalsWA$1,537Idaho: 8 hospitals 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 $1,301 across 17 hospitalsIL$1,301Wisconsin: median $3,173 across 25 hospitalsWI$3,173Michigan: median $1,307 across 29 hospitalsMI$1,307New York: median $4,581 across 31 hospitalsNY$4,581Massachusetts: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMAOregon: median $1,374 across 12 hospitalsOR$1,374Nevada: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 4 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 $1,654 across 17 hospitalsIA$1,654Indiana: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureINOhio: median $2,792 across 10 hospitalsOH$2,792Pennsylvania: median $847 across 20 hospitalsPA$847New Jersey: median $6,458 across 31 hospitalsNJ$6,458Connecticut: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $12,807 across 25 hospitalsCA$12,807Utah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: median $1,006 across 10 hospitalsMO$1,006Kentucky: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNMKansas: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $1,108 across 12 hospitalsOK$1,108Louisiana: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMSAlabama: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $6,838 across 24 hospitalsTX$6,838Florida: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $2,338. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA25$12,807+448%$1,938 – $12,807
Texas TX24$6,838+192%$5,775 – $6,838
New Jersey NJ31$6,458+176%$5,339 – $7,786
New York NY31$4,581+96%$1,291 – $6,904
Wisconsin WI25$3,173+36%$3,173 – $4,255
Ohio OH10$2,792+19%$938 – $2,792
Iowa IA17$1,654−29%$1,654 – $1,654
Washington WA11$1,537−34%$1,342 – $6,749
Oregon OR12$1,374−41%$1,244 – $1,867
Michigan MI29$1,307−44%$991 – $3,173
Illinois IL17$1,301−44%$532 – $2,338
Oklahoma OK12$1,108−53%$1,108 – $1,108
Missouri MO10$1,006−57%$979 – $1,099
Pennsylvania PA20$847−64%$138 – $9,060
West Virginia WV9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Indiana IN3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Georgia GA1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND1not 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 $2,338.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care293$2,952$1,108 – $7,786
Children’s6fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access84$1,654$927 – $4,255
Ownership
For-profit32$4,109$852 – $8,722
Government67$1,666$1,099 – $6,904
Non-profit284$2,792$1,108 – $6,904
System affiliation
Part of a system309$3,074$1,108 – $7,547
Independent75$1,501$995 – $4,120

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,330
Median cash price$2,338
Cash as a share of list, median hospital64%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 36%. 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

200 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,654 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,502; most fall between $924 and $6,838.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 200 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
$625$991$1,654$4,109$12,807

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 20× what the cheapest tenth charges ($625 vs $12,807).

Of the 222 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 200 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 5 a list price only.

How complete is this

384 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (10%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 429 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted384
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here37
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded1
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded6
Hospitals that filed this code429

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 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 hernia repair family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Repair Lumbar Hernia.

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, “Repair of hernia in the flank or lower back (CPT 49540) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-49540-repair-of-hernia-in-the-flank-or-lower-back