HRHospitalRates.comCompare prices

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

Plug placed in tear duct opening, each plug

CPT 68761the billing code this page is about

Insertion of a small plug into the tear drainage opening of the eyelid to slow tear drainage; the charge applies to each plug placed.

Hospitals typically charge $360 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 531 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $386. Most fall between $191 and $656 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
531
States
48
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 531 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$229$360$602$1,018

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.5× what the cheapest tenth charges ($135 vs $1,018).

How the prices are spread

$112 – $141: 40 hospitals$112$141 – $179: 24 hospitals$179 – $228: 41 hospitals$179$228 – $289: 47 hospitals$289 – $366: 89 hospitals$289$366 – $465: 76 hospitals$465 – $590: 43 hospitals$465$590 – $748: 60 hospitals$748 – $949: 22 hospitals$748$949 – $1,204: 40 hospitals$949median $360price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (482 of 531 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$112$14140
$141$17924
$179$22841
$228$28947
$289$36689
$366$46576
$465$59043
$590$74860
$748$94922
$949$1,20440

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$324
Median cash price$360
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.11×

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 $360.

Alaska: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $424 across 11 hospitalsWA$424Idaho: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $590 across 23 hospitalsMN$590Illinois: median $333 across 23 hospitalsIL$333Wisconsin: median $537 across 37 hospitalsWI$537Michigan: median $436 across 26 hospitalsMI$436New York: median $354 across 35 hospitalsNY$354Massachusetts: median $888 across 11 hospitalsMA$888Oregon: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 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: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $366 across 19 hospitalsIA$366Indiana: median $229 across 16 hospitalsIN$229Ohio: median $304 across 22 hospitalsOH$304Pennsylvania: median $351 across 31 hospitalsPA$351New Jersey: median $516 across 26 hospitalsNJ$516Connecticut: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $1,204 across 34 hospitalsCA$1,204Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 6 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 $306 across 17 hospitalsWV$306Virginia: median $128 across 11 hospitalsVA$128Maryland: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 7 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: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $190 across 12 hospitalsOK$190Louisiana: median $238 across 21 hospitalsLA$238Mississippi: median $279 across 12 hospitalsMS$279Alabama: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $316 across 10 hospitalsGA$316Hawaii: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $609 across 23 hospitalsTX$609Florida: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $360. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA34$1,204+234%$656 – $1,204
Massachusetts MA11$888+147%$417 – $946
Texas TX23$609+69%$494 – $656
Minnesota MN23$590+64%$373 – $592
Wisconsin WI37$537+49%$403 – $537
New Jersey NJ26$516+43%$331 – $5,339
Michigan MI26$436+21%$251 – $1,018
Washington WA11$424+18%$296 – $490
Iowa IA19$366+2%$197 – $366
New York NY35$354−2%$324 – $630
Pennsylvania PA31$351−3%$77 – $471
Illinois IL23$333−8%$153 – $513
Georgia GA10$316−12%$316 – $316
West Virginia WV17$306−15%$116 – $414
Ohio OH22$304−16%$302 – $552
Mississippi MS12$279−23%$255 – $386
Louisiana LA21$238−34%$167 – $305
Indiana IN16$229−37%$135 – $303
Oklahoma OK12$190−47%$190 – $190
Virginia VA11$128−65%$128 – $132
Missouri MO9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM1not 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 $360.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care421$366$190 – $663
Children’s12fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access98$349$193 – $592
Ownership
For-profit34$316$190 – $656
Government76$354$240 – $490
Non-profit421$366$190 – $656
System affiliation
Part of a system441$366$190 – $656
Independent90$332$209 – $602

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$600
Median cash price$360
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

346 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $366 and the average of the middle 60% is $394; most fall between $188 and $656.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 346 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
$133$204$366$609$1,032

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.8× what the cheapest tenth charges ($133 vs $1,032).

Of the 371 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 346 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 8 a list price only.

How complete is this

531 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (13%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 578 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted531
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here34
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 — excluded12
Hospitals that filed this code578

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 Clsr Lacrimal Punctum Plug Each.

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, “Plug placed in tear duct opening, each plug (CPT 68761) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-68761-plug-placed-in-tear-duct-opening-each-plug