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Procedure price report

Packed red blood cells, per unit

HCPCS P9021the billing code this page is about

One unit of red blood cells with most of the plasma removed, supplied for transfusion; the charge is per unit and several units may be given.

Hospitals typically charge $323 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 253 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $362. Most fall between $167 and $729 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
253
States
34
Filings dated
Dec 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 253 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
$106$201$323$584$959

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.1× what the cheapest tenth charges ($106 vs $959).

How the prices are spread

$91 – $116: 23 hospitals$91$116 – $148: 9 hospitals$148 – $190: 17 hospitals$148$190 – $243: 22 hospitals$243 – $311: 33 hospitals$243$311 – $398: 28 hospitals$398 – $509: 41 hospitals$398$509 – $651: 17 hospitals$651 – $833: 18 hospitals$651$833 – $1,066: 24 hospitals$833median $323price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (232 of 253 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$91$11623
$116$1489
$148$19017
$190$24322
$243$31133
$311$39828
$398$50941
$509$65117
$651$83318
$833$1,06624

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$151
Median cash price$323
Cash as a multiple of Medicare2.1×

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 $323.

Alaska: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceVTNew Hampshire: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNHWashington: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNDMinnesota: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceILWisconsin: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceWIMichigan: median $274 across 11 hospitalsMI$274New York: median $248 across 12 hospitalsNY$248Massachusetts: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceWYSouth Dakota: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceSDIowa: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceIAIndiana: median $116 across 16 hospitalsIN$116Ohio: median $297 across 22 hospitalsOH$297Pennsylvania: median $1,354 across 13 hospitalsPA$1,354New Jersey: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNJConnecticut: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCAUtah: median $959 across 23 hospitalsUT$959Colorado: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceCONebraska: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNEMissouri: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMOKentucky: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $220 across 11 hospitalsVA$220Maryland: 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: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceARTennessee: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureOKLouisiana: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureLAMississippi: 3 hospitals 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: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceHITexas: median $414 across 34 hospitalsTX$414Florida: median $91 across 19 hospitalsFL$91
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $323. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Pennsylvania PA13$1,354+319%$254 – $1,468
Utah UT23$959+197%$959 – $1,066
Texas TX34$414+28%$414 – $464
Ohio OH22$297−8%$275 – $584
Michigan MI11$274−15%$274 – $274
New York NY12$248−23%$182 – $273
Virginia VA11$220−32%$178 – $479
Indiana IN16$116−64%$106 – $322
Florida FL19$91−72%$91 – $227
New Jersey NJ9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
California CA6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Louisiana LA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID4not 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
Minnesota MN3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oklahoma OK2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS1not 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 $323.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care213$322$166 – $729
Children’s2fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access36$275$167 – $766
Ownership
For-profit53$341$155 – $515
Government22$239$167 – $462
Non-profit176$322$182 – $827
System affiliation
Part of a system225$326$166 – $749
Independent28$295$187 – $585

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$691
Median cash price$323
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

196 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $364 and the average of the middle 60% is $386; most fall between $201 and $827.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 196 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
$115$220$364$601$1,066

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.3× what the cheapest tenth charges ($115 vs $1,066).

Of the 204 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 196 gave a usable cash price; 1 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

253 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 262 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted253
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here1
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded8
Hospitals that filed this code262

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.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as HC Red Blood Cells.

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, “Packed red blood cells, per unit (CPT P9021) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-p9021-packed-red-blood-cells-per-unit