HRHospitalRates.comCompare prices

Procedure price report · Incision and excision of CNS

Brain surgery to remove a tumor near the ear and brainstem

CPT 61520the billing code this page is about

Opening of the skull to remove a tumor at the cerebellopontine angle, such as an acoustic neuroma, near where the hearing nerve meets the brainstem.

Hospitals typically charge $6,333 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 183 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $7,370. Most fall between $4,627 and $11,951 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
183
States
36
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 183 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
$2,418$4,843$6,333$10,375$14,843

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.1× what the cheapest tenth charges ($2,418 vs $14,843).

How the prices are spread

$1,832 – $2,294: 9 hospitals$1,832$2,294 – $2,872: 1 hospitals$2,872 – $3,595: 5 hospitals$2,872$3,595 – $4,502: 12 hospitals$4,502 – $5,636: 22 hospitals$4,502$5,636 – $7,057: 43 hospitals$7,057 – $8,836: 13 hospitals$7,057$8,836 – $11,063: 25 hospitals$11,063 – $13,852: 19 hospitals$11,063$13,852 – $17,343: 17 hospitals$13,852median $6,333price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (166 of 183 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$1,832$2,2949
$2,294$2,8721
$2,872$3,5955
$3,595$4,50212
$4,502$5,63622
$5,636$7,05743
$7,057$8,83613
$8,836$11,06325
$11,063$13,85219
$13,852$17,34317

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $6,333.

Alaska: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMEVermont: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 2 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: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureILWisconsin: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWIMichigan: median $5,484 across 12 hospitalsMI$5,484New York: median $6,159 across 11 hospitalsNY$6,159Massachusetts: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMAOregon: median $6,878 across 10 hospitalsOR$6,878Nevada: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: median $8,870 across 16 hospitalsIA$8,870Indiana: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceINOhio: median $14,347 across 11 hospitalsOH$14,347Pennsylvania: median $2,248 across 15 hospitalsPA$2,248New Jersey: median $4,664 across 18 hospitalsNJ$4,664Connecticut: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCAUtah: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceUTColorado: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 2 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: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceVAMaryland: 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: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNMKansas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNCSouth Carolina: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSCOklahoma: median $6,108 across 10 hospitalsOK$6,108Louisiana: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMSAlabama: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceGAHawaii: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceHITexas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTXFlorida: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $6,333. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Ohio OH11$14,347+127%$5,786 – $14,843
Iowa IA16$8,870+40%$8,870 – $8,870
Oregon OR10$6,878+9%$6,878 – $11,951
New York NY11$6,159−3%$4,650 – $11,123
Oklahoma OK10$6,108−4%$6,108 – $6,108
Michigan MI12$5,484−13%$5,453 – $7,191
New Jersey NJ18$4,664−26%$4,627 – $5,741
Pennsylvania PA15$2,248−65%$1,832 – $9,218
Illinois IL9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wisconsin WI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
California CA4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Texas TX3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN1not 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 $6,333.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care150$6,159$4,350 – $11,153
Children’s9fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access23$7,563$3,598 – $17,343
Ownership
For-profit12fewer than 20 hospitals
Government19fewer than 20 hospitals
Non-profit151$6,159$4,650 – $11,951
System affiliation
Part of a system149$6,311$4,350 – $11,951
Independent34$6,998$4,650 – $11,550

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$10,578
Median cash price$6,333
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

115 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $6,878 and the average of the middle 60% is $6,893; most fall between $3,819 and $9,903.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 115 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
$2,248$4,650$6,878$8,870$12,153

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 5.4× what the cheapest tenth charges ($2,248 vs $12,153).

Of the 132 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 115 gave a usable cash price; 14 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 3 a list price only.

How complete is this

183 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (5%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 203 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted183
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here18
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded1
Hospitals that filed this code203

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 24, 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 Incision and excision of CNS family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Crnec Tum Infrattl/Postfossa Crblopnt Angle Tum.

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, “Brain surgery to remove a tumor near the ear and brainstem (CPT 61520) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-61520-brain-surgery-to-remove-a-tumor-near-the-ear-and-brainstem