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Procedure price report · Other OR therapeutic nervous system procedures

Removal of tumor within the cord covering, mid-back

CPT 63281the billing code this page is about

Bone is removed from the back of the chest-level vertebrae to biopsy or take out a growth inside the spinal cord covering but not within the cord itself.

Hospitals typically charge $5,214 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 220 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $5,753. Most fall between $3,095 and $9,617 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
220
States
41
Filings dated
Jun 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 220 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
$1,676$3,406$5,214$9,617$12,860

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.7× what the cheapest tenth charges ($1,676 vs $12,860).

How the prices are spread

$965 – $1,274: 4 hospitals$965$1,274 – $1,683: 8 hospitals$1,683 – $2,222: 13 hospitals$1,683$2,222 – $2,934: 4 hospitals$2,934 – $3,875: 35 hospitals$2,934$3,875 – $5,116: 35 hospitals$5,116 – $6,756: 33 hospitals$5,116$6,756 – $8,922: 17 hospitals$8,922 – $11,781: 34 hospitals$8,922$11,781 – $15,557: 18 hospitals$11,781median $5,214price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (201 of 220 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$965$1,2744
$1,274$1,6838
$1,683$2,22213
$2,222$2,9344
$2,934$3,87535
$3,875$5,11635
$5,116$6,75633
$6,756$8,92217
$8,922$11,78134
$11,781$15,55718

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $5,214.

Alaska: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 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: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $12,860 across 14 hospitalsMN$12,860Illinois: median $4,926 across 12 hospitalsIL$4,926Wisconsin: median $9,724 across 25 hospitalsWI$9,724Michigan: median $4,535 across 16 hospitalsMI$4,535New York: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNYMassachusetts: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMAOregon: median $3,902 across 10 hospitalsOR$3,902Nevada: 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: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $4,926 across 14 hospitalsIA$4,926Indiana: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceINOhio: median $7,797 across 10 hospitalsOH$7,797Pennsylvania: median $819 across 15 hospitalsPA$819New Jersey: median $5,110 across 12 hospitalsNJ$5,110Connecticut: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: 5 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: 5 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: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMDDelaware: 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: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSCOklahoma: median $3,459 across 10 hospitalsOK$3,459Louisiana: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceGAHawaii: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: 5 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 $5,214. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Minnesota MN14$12,860+147%$7,068 – $12,860
Wisconsin WI25$9,724+86%$9,617 – $15,557
Ohio OH10$7,797+50%$4,129 – $7,797
New Jersey NJ12$5,110−2%$4,350 – $5,855
Iowa IA14$4,926−6%$4,926 – $4,926
Illinois IL12$4,926−6%$1,657 – $12,218
Michigan MI16$4,535−13%$3,178 – $6,124
Oregon OR10$3,902−25%$3,902 – $6,715
Oklahoma OK10$3,459−34%$3,459 – $3,459
Pennsylvania PA15$819−84%$613 – $5,660
New York NY7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
California CA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Texas TX5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA3not 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
Idaho ID2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT2not 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
Hawaii HI1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD1not 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 $5,214.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care169$4,926$2,963 – $9,103
Children’s9fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access41$9,617$3,494 – $10,961
Ownership
For-profit17fewer than 20 hospitals
Government22$4,547$3,406 – $9,204
Non-profit180$5,231$3,178 – $9,617
System affiliation
Part of a system178$5,419$3,178 – $9,664
Independent42$4,349$2,963 – $7,490

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$6,253
Median cash price$5,214
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

143 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $4,523 and the average of the middle 60% is $4,627; most fall between $2,583 and $8,070.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 143 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
$1,657$3,001$4,523$6,605$9,617

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 5.8× what the cheapest tenth charges ($1,657 vs $9,617).

Of the 160 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 143 gave a usable cash price; 11 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 6 a list price only.

How complete is this

220 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (6%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 253 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted220
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here16
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 — excluded16
Hospitals that filed this code253

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 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 OR therapeutic nervous system procedures family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Lam Bx/Exc Ispi Neo Idrl Xmed Thoracic.

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, “Removal of tumor within the cord covering, mid-back (CPT 63281) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-63281-removal-of-tumor-within-the-cord-covering-mid-back