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Procedure price report · Other therapeutic procedures on eyelids, conjunctiva, cornea

Snip opening of the tear drainage opening

CPT 68440the billing code this page is about

A small snip incision enlarges the tiny tear drainage opening in the eyelid margin to improve tear flow.

Hospitals typically charge $412 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 456 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $491. Most fall between $206 and $1,122 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
456
States
46
Filings dated
Mar 2023 – 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 456 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
$135$254$412$954$1,742

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 13× what the cheapest tenth charges ($135 vs $1,742).

How the prices are spread

$91 – $132: 23 hospitals$91$132 – $192: 43 hospitals$192 – $280: 57 hospitals$192$280 – $409: 82 hospitals$409 – $596: 72 hospitals$409$596 – $868: 35 hospitals$868 – $1,266: 54 hospitals$868$1,266 – $1,845: 27 hospitals$1,845 – $2,689: 11 hospitals$1,845$2,689 – $3,920: 14 hospitals$2,689median $412price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (418 of 456 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$91$13223
$132$19243
$192$28057
$280$40982
$409$59672
$596$86835
$868$1,26654
$1,266$1,84527
$1,845$2,68911
$2,689$3,92014

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$324
Median cash price$412
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.27×

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 $412.

Alaska: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMEVermont: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $581 across 17 hospitalsMN$581Illinois: median $320 across 21 hospitalsIL$320Wisconsin: median $500 across 35 hospitalsWI$500Michigan: median $436 across 21 hospitalsMI$436New York: median $354 across 30 hospitalsNY$354Massachusetts: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $254 across 15 hospitalsIA$254Indiana: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureINOhio: median $329 across 12 hospitalsOH$329Pennsylvania: median $351 across 23 hospitalsPA$351New Jersey: median $3,113 across 29 hospitalsNJ$3,113Connecticut: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $1,170 across 47 hospitalsCA$1,170Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: median $322 across 19 hospitalsWV$322Virginia: median $318 across 11 hospitalsVA$318Maryland: 1 hospital 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: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $162 across 13 hospitalsOK$162Louisiana: median $276 across 15 hospitalsLA$276Mississippi: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $2,454 across 16 hospitalsGA$2,454Hawaii: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $841 across 22 hospitalsTX$841Florida: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $412. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
New Jersey NJ29$3,113+655%$331 – $5,339
Georgia GA16$2,454+496%$2,454 – $3,920
California CA47$1,170+184%$656 – $1,742
Texas TX22$841+104%$499 – $1,122
Minnesota MN17$581+41%$153 – $581
Wisconsin WI35$500+21%$412 – $963
Michigan MI21$436+6%$203 – $986
New York NY30$354−14%$354 – $919
Pennsylvania PA23$351−15%$63 – $492
Ohio OH12$329−20%$165 – $1,943
West Virginia WV19$322−22%$99 – $431
Illinois IL21$320−22%$254 – $859
Virginia VA11$318−23%$91 – $318
Louisiana LA15$276−33%$141 – $333
Iowa IA15$254−38%$254 – $254
Oklahoma OK13$162−61%$162 – $609
Missouri MO9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Indiana IN5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT1not 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 $412.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care374$396$213 – $1,170
Children’s7fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access75$412$188 – $620
Ownership
For-profit36$412$268 – $920
Government59$354$169 – $720
Non-profit361$412$209 – $1,170
System affiliation
Part of a system384$412$231 – $1,170
Independent72$333$176 – $848

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$660
Median cash price$412
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

299 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $412 and the average of the middle 60% is $549; most fall between $190 and $1,170.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 299 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
$140$252$412$986$1,742

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($140 vs $1,742).

Of the 323 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 299 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 7 a list price only.

How complete is this

456 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (12%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 502 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted456
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 — excluded7
Hospitals that filed this code502

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 Other therapeutic procedures on eyelids, conjunctiva, cornea family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Snip Incision Lacrimal Punctum.

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, “Snip opening of the tear drainage opening (CPT 68440) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-68440-snip-opening-of-the-tear-drainage-opening