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

Removal of the tear sac

CPT 68520the billing code this page is about

Surgical removal of the tear sac, the small reservoir that drains tears from the eye toward the nose.

Hospitals typically charge $4,197 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 241 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $3,677. Most fall between $1,233 and $5,672 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
241
States
39
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 241 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
$920$1,506$4,197$5,364$8,736

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.5× what the cheapest tenth charges ($920 vs $8,736).

How the prices are spread

$525 – $703: 9 hospitals$525$703 – $943: 8 hospitals$943 – $1,265: 24 hospitals$943$1,265 – $1,695: 13 hospitals$1,695 – $2,273: 24 hospitals$1,695$2,273 – $3,048: 12 hospitals$3,048 – $4,087: 12 hospitals$3,048$4,087 – $5,479: 78 hospitals$5,479 – $7,346: 15 hospitals$5,479$7,346 – $9,850: 29 hospitals$7,346median $4,197price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (224 of 241 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$525$7039
$703$9438
$943$1,26524
$1,265$1,69513
$1,695$2,27324
$2,273$3,04812
$3,048$4,08712
$4,087$5,47978
$5,479$7,34615
$7,346$9,85029

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$4,017
Median cash price$4,197
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.04×

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 $4,197.

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: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $1,506 across 15 hospitalsIL$1,506Wisconsin: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWIMichigan: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMINew York: median $4,462 across 23 hospitalsNY$4,462Massachusetts: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMAOregon: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceORNevada: 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: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: median $1,758 across 14 hospitalsIA$1,758Indiana: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceINOhio: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureOHPennsylvania: median $2,658 across 17 hospitalsPA$2,658New Jersey: median $4,627 across 28 hospitalsNJ$4,627Connecticut: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $8,736 across 26 hospitalsCA$8,736Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: 1 hospital 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: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNMKansas: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 1 hospital 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: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $1,196 across 12 hospitalsOK$1,196Louisiana: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMSAlabama: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureGAHawaii: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $4,907 across 20 hospitalsTX$4,907Florida: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $4,197. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA26$8,736+108%$2,704 – $8,736
Texas TX20$4,907+17%$3,735 – $4,907
New Jersey NJ28$4,627+10%$4,174 – $5,339
New York NY23$4,462+6%$1,965 – $4,667
Pennsylvania PA17$2,658−37%$227 – $6,376
Iowa IA14$1,758−58%$1,758 – $1,758
Illinois IL15$1,506−64%$525 – $4,197
Oklahoma OK12$1,196−72%$1,196 – $1,196
Michigan MI9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wisconsin WI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Georgia GA7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Ohio OH7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV1not 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 $4,197.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care215$4,350$1,196 – $5,741
Children’s3fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access22$4,197$1,300 – $4,907
Ownership
For-profit25$3,256$656 – $6,074
Government35$2,310$1,250 – $4,462
Non-profit180$4,421$1,471 – $5,856
System affiliation
Part of a system202$4,441$1,300 – $5,855
Independent39$1,855$1,110 – $5,087

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$4,197
Median cash price$4,197
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

143 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $2,614 and the average of the middle 60% is $3,043; most fall between $1,110 and $6,376.

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
$554$1,196$2,614$5,364$8,736

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 16× what the cheapest tenth charges ($554 vs $8,736).

Of the 151 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 143 gave a usable cash price; 7 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 1 a list price only.

How complete is this

241 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 258 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted241
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here12
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 — excluded3
Hospitals that filed this code258

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 therapeutic procedures on eyelids, conjunctiva, cornea family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Excision Lacrimal Sac.

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 the tear sac (CPT 68520) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-68520-removal-of-the-tear-sac