HRHospitalRates.comCompare prices

Procedure price report · Psychological and psychiatric evaluation and therapy

Brief screening for emotional or behavioral problems

CPT 96127the billing code this page is about

A short standardized questionnaire, such as a depression or ADHD screener, that is scored and documented; billed once per instrument used.

Hospitals typically charge $30 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,180 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $32. Most fall between $11 and $71 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,180
States
50
Filings dated
Dec 2023 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 25, 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 1,180 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
$8$12$30$61$106

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 14× what the cheapest tenth charges ($8 vs $106).

How the prices are spread

$6 – $8: 47 hospitals$6$8 – $10: 117 hospitals$10 – $14: 146 hospitals$10$14 – $19: 100 hospitals$19 – $26: 85 hospitals$19$26 – $36: 92 hospitals$36 – $49: 161 hospitals$36$49 – $67: 105 hospitals$67 – $91: 102 hospitals$67$91 – $124: 109 hospitals$91median $30price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,064 of 1,180 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$6$847
$8$10117
$10$14146
$14$19100
$19$2685
$26$3692
$36$49161
$49$67105
$67$91102
$91$124109

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$38
Median cash price$30
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.79×

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 $30.

Alaska: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $21 across 15 hospitalsME$21Vermont: median $13 across 10 hospitalsVT$13New Hampshire: median $15 across 11 hospitalsNH$15Washington: median $43 across 39 hospitalsWA$43Idaho: median $114 across 11 hospitalsID$114Montana: median $14 across 17 hospitalsMT$14North Dakota: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $17 across 38 hospitalsMN$17Illinois: median $21 across 45 hospitalsIL$21Wisconsin: median $28 across 52 hospitalsWI$28Michigan: median $25 across 56 hospitalsMI$25New York: median $46 across 87 hospitalsNY$46Massachusetts: median $64 across 26 hospitalsMA$64Oregon: median $14 across 31 hospitalsOR$14Nevada: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: median $46 across 10 hospitalsSD$46Iowa: median $40 across 48 hospitalsIA$40Indiana: median $11 across 44 hospitalsIN$11Ohio: median $40 across 54 hospitalsOH$40Pennsylvania: median $43 across 40 hospitalsPA$43New Jersey: median $48 across 23 hospitalsNJ$48Connecticut: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $71 across 72 hospitalsCA$71Utah: median $122 across 23 hospitalsUT$122Colorado: median $26 across 21 hospitalsCO$26Nebraska: median $15 across 26 hospitalsNE$15Missouri: median $12 across 20 hospitalsMO$12Kentucky: median $12 across 15 hospitalsKY$12West Virginia: median $43 across 24 hospitalsWV$43Virginia: median $31 across 17 hospitalsVA$31Maryland: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $14 across 23 hospitalsKS$14Arkansas: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: median $15 across 14 hospitalsTN$15North Carolina: median $17 across 28 hospitalsNC$17South Carolina: median $8 across 26 hospitalsSC$8Oklahoma: median $8 across 18 hospitalsOK$8Louisiana: median $32 across 15 hospitalsLA$32Mississippi: median $8 across 16 hospitalsMS$8Alabama: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $43 across 23 hospitalsGA$43Hawaii: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $38 across 47 hospitalsTX$38Florida: median $39 across 20 hospitalsFL$39
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $30. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Utah UT23$122+306%$122 – $122
Idaho ID11$114+280%$30 – $114
California CA72$71+136%$19 – $105
Massachusetts MA26$64+113%$18 – $116
New Jersey NJ23$48+61%$43 – $327
New York NY87$46+55%$16 – $102
South Dakota SD10$46+53%$36 – $95
Georgia GA23$43+44%$18 – $106
Pennsylvania PA40$43+43%$11 – $112
West Virginia WV24$43+43%$18 – $71
Washington WA39$43+43%$10 – $72
Iowa IA48$40+33%$14 – $64
Ohio OH54$40+32%$36 – $47
Florida FL20$39+31%$18 – $73
Texas TX47$38+26%$9 – $66
Louisiana LA15$32+8%$3 – $48
Virginia VA17$31+3%$13 – $35
Wisconsin WI52$28−8%$11 – $76
Colorado CO21$26−13%$9 – $64
Michigan MI56$25−16%$11 – $76
Maine ME15$21−30%$10 – $36
Illinois IL45$21−32%$11 – $78
North Carolina NC28$17−42%$14 – $33
Minnesota MN38$17−44%$10 – $34
New Hampshire NH11$15−49%$10 – $24
Nebraska NE26$15−50%$8 – $39
Tennessee TN14$15−50%$6 – $58
Kansas KS23$14−53%$8 – $22
Montana MT17$14−53%$9 – $31
Oregon OR31$14−55%$8 – $18
Vermont VT10$13−57%$9 – $18
Missouri MO20$12−59%$8 – $41
Kentucky KY15$12−59%$7 – $45
Indiana IN44$11−65%$4 – $20
South Carolina SC26$8−72%$8 – $50
Mississippi MS16$8−74%$6 – $23
Oklahoma OK18$8−74%$8 – $14
Alaska AK9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM3not 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 $30.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care797$38$11 – $76
Children’s34$35$13 – $116
Critical access348$17$9 – $49
Ownership
For-profit61$31$10 – $69
Government245$19$10 – $46
Non-profit873$34$11 – $76
System affiliation
Part of a system936$34$11 – $72
Independent244$17$10 – $57

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$46
Median cash price$30
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

752 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $34 and the average of the middle 60% is $36; most fall between $11 and $82.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 752 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
$8$12$34$71$116

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 14× what the cheapest tenth charges ($8 vs $116).

Of the 805 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 752 gave a usable cash price; 21 carried a plausibility flag, 2 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 30 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,180 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (30%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,257 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,180
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) — excluded2
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded41
Hospitals that filed this code1,257

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 25, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 25, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Related procedures

Part of the Psychological and psychiatric evaluation and therapy family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Behav Assmt W/Score & Docd/Stand Instrument.

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, “Brief screening for emotional or behavioral problems (CPT 96127) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-96127-brief-screening-for-emotional-or-behavioral-problems