HRHospitalRates.comCompare prices

Procedure price report · Diagnostic spinal tap

Spinal tap to drain spinal fluid for treatment

CPT 62272the billing code this page is about

A needle or catheter is placed in the spine to remove cerebrospinal fluid as treatment rather than for testing.

Hospitals typically charge $820 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,101 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $849. Most fall between $379 and $1,510 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,101
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 2,101 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
$248$439$820$1,321$2,313

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.3× what the cheapest tenth charges ($248 vs $2,313).

How the prices are spread

$170 – $229: 78 hospitals$170$229 – $307: 115 hospitals$307 – $412: 164 hospitals$307$412 – $553: 200 hospitals$553 – $742: 276 hospitals$553$742 – $996: 328 hospitals$996 – $1,337: 321 hospitals$996$1,337 – $1,794: 186 hospitals$1,794 – $2,408: 127 hospitals$1,794$2,408 – $3,232: 96 hospitals$2,408median $820price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,891 of 2,101 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$170$22978
$229$307115
$307$412164
$412$553200
$553$742276
$742$996328
$996$1,337321
$1,337$1,794186
$1,794$2,408127
$2,408$3,23296

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$721
Median cash price$820
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.14×

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 $820.

Alaska: median $1,257 across 15 hospitalsAK$1,257Maine: median $574 across 17 hospitalsME$574Vermont: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $319 across 14 hospitalsNH$319Washington: median $786 across 59 hospitalsWA$786Idaho: median $885 across 19 hospitalsID$885Montana: median $414 across 19 hospitalsMT$414North Dakota: median $605 across 13 hospitalsND$605Minnesota: median $588 across 53 hospitalsMN$588Illinois: median $821 across 73 hospitalsIL$821Wisconsin: median $615 across 77 hospitalsWI$615Michigan: median $772 across 75 hospitalsMI$772New York: median $838 across 83 hospitalsNY$838Massachusetts: median $1,040 across 36 hospitalsMA$1,040Oregon: median $1,120 across 39 hospitalsOR$1,120Nevada: median $700 across 13 hospitalsNV$700Wyoming: median $665 across 11 hospitalsWY$665South Dakota: median $1,614 across 11 hospitalsSD$1,614Iowa: median $628 across 46 hospitalsIA$628Indiana: median $447 across 54 hospitalsIN$447Ohio: median $1,355 across 105 hospitalsOH$1,355Pennsylvania: median $1,075 across 92 hospitalsPA$1,075New Jersey: median $924 across 53 hospitalsNJ$924Connecticut: median $965 across 15 hospitalsCT$965Rhode Island: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $1,531 across 149 hospitalsCA$1,531Utah: median $923 across 29 hospitalsUT$923Colorado: median $665 across 38 hospitalsCO$665Nebraska: median $450 across 37 hospitalsNE$450Missouri: median $632 across 47 hospitalsMO$632Kentucky: median $917 across 37 hospitalsKY$917West Virginia: median $734 across 29 hospitalsWV$734Virginia: median $745 across 45 hospitalsVA$745Maryland: 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 $463 across 35 hospitalsAZ$463New Mexico: median $576 across 15 hospitalsNM$576Kansas: median $493 across 47 hospitalsKS$493Arkansas: median $538 across 16 hospitalsAR$538Tennessee: median $384 across 42 hospitalsTN$384North Carolina: median $790 across 49 hospitalsNC$790South Carolina: median $1,003 across 31 hospitalsSC$1,003Oklahoma: median $573 across 44 hospitalsOK$573Louisiana: median $415 across 36 hospitalsLA$415Mississippi: median $328 across 33 hospitalsMS$328Alabama: median $693 across 25 hospitalsAL$693Georgia: median $1,031 across 67 hospitalsGA$1,031Hawaii: median $867 across 10 hospitalsHI$867Texas: median $1,046 across 150 hospitalsTX$1,046Florida: median $1,210 across 75 hospitalsFL$1,210
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $820. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
South Dakota SD11$1,614+97%$735 – $1,664
California CA149$1,531+87%$753 – $2,776
Ohio OH105$1,355+65%$606 – $3,076
Alaska AK15$1,257+53%$290 – $2,257
Florida FL75$1,210+48%$675 – $2,188
Oregon OR39$1,120+37%$341 – $1,720
Pennsylvania PA92$1,075+31%$694 – $1,952
Texas TX150$1,046+28%$607 – $1,312
Massachusetts MA36$1,040+27%$600 – $1,950
Georgia GA67$1,031+26%$704 – $1,289
South Carolina SC31$1,003+22%$686 – $1,113
Connecticut CT15$965+18%$474 – $1,100
New Jersey NJ53$924+13%$767 – $4,627
Utah UT29$923+13%$885 – $1,042
Kentucky KY37$917+12%$420 – $2,781
Idaho ID19$885+8%$178 – $1,886
Hawaii HI10$867+6%$738 – $2,303
New York NY83$838+2%$318 – $1,727
Illinois IL73$8210%$389 – $1,839
North Carolina NC49$790−4%$338 – $913
Washington WA59$786−4%$424 – $1,444
Michigan MI75$772−6%$379 – $1,204
Virginia VA45$745−9%$364 – $1,485
West Virginia WV29$734−10%$251 – $1,236
Nevada NV13$700−15%$424 – $1,081
Alabama AL25$693−15%$386 – $1,074
Wyoming WY11$665−19%$270 – $1,302
Colorado CO38$665−19%$411 – $1,630
Missouri MO47$632−23%$293 – $1,277
Iowa IA46$628−23%$305 – $937
Wisconsin WI77$615−25%$426 – $934
North Dakota ND13$605−26%$242 – $1,091
Minnesota MN53$588−28%$272 – $947
New Mexico NM15$576−30%$466 – $890
Maine ME17$574−30%$245 – $838
Oklahoma OK44$573−30%$243 – $1,412
Arkansas AR16$538−34%$236 – $720
Kansas KS47$493−40%$226 – $819
Arizona AZ35$463−44%$229 – $3,568
Nebraska NE37$450−45%$321 – $603
Indiana IN54$447−45%$163 – $940
Louisiana LA36$415−49%$211 – $727
Montana MT19$414−49%$131 – $607
Tennessee TN42$384−53%$311 – $645
Mississippi MS33$328−60%$235 – $520
New Hampshire NH14$319−61%$85 – $775
Rhode Island RI9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE2not 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 $820.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,597$881$426 – $1,614
Children’s59$1,403$612 – $2,922
Critical access438$518$253 – $1,120
Ownership
For-profit215$903$423 – $1,899
Government357$689$315 – $1,175
Non-profit1,522$846$398 – $1,580
System affiliation
Part of a system1,735$838$404 – $1,540
Independent366$693$278 – $1,421

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$1,529
Median cash price$820
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

1,555 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $885 and the average of the middle 60% is $892; most fall between $415 and $1,541.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,555 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
$262$489$885$1,343$2,303

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.8× what the cheapest tenth charges ($262 vs $2,303).

Of the 1,665 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,555 gave a usable cash price; 49 carried a plausibility flag, 2 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 59 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,101 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (53%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 2,250 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,101
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here77
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded2
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded5
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded65
Hospitals that filed this code2,250

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 Diagnostic spinal tap family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Therapeutic Spinal Puncture Drainage CSF.

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, “Spinal tap to drain spinal fluid for treatment (CPT 62272) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-62272-spinal-tap-to-drain-spinal-fluid-for-treatment