CPT 31502 · 1,382 hospitals reporting

Change of breathing tube in windpipe

The same procedure costs $50.4 at one hospital and $7,072 at another — a 140× spread for what's billed under the same code. Median: $312.

Cheapest published

$50.4

32 entries below $50 already filtered. Remaining low values usually reflect partial-cost line items (professional fee only), not full bills.

Median across 1,382 hospitals

$312

The realistic middle of the cash-price distribution. Use this as your benchmark.

Most expensive

$7,072

Highest published price. Often a gross-charge "list price" rarely actually paid.

Price distribution

500 hospitals · log-scale x-axis

Each bar = number of hospitals charging in that price range. Emerald bar contains the median. Amber dots = entries we flagged as likely partial-cost line items (excluded from the table below).

Filter by state

Filter by your insurance

Sort

Why some prices look unrealistically low or high

Hospitals publish their machine-readable files (MRFs) the way they choose. A single procedure code can appear with very different prices depending on what's being charged:

Global price — facility + implant + anesthesia + surgeon. This is what you'd actually be billed.
Professional fee only — surgeon's portion. Often $500–$2,500 for a major procedure that costs $20K+ globally.
Facility fee only — operating room and recovery, no implant or surgeon.
Per-unit / per-minute charges — e.g. anesthesia time billed at $0.68/min appearing under a CPT code.
Rate multipliers — values like 0.85 meaning "85% of Medicare" rather than dollars.

We filter the most obvious artifacts (under $50, or 25× above the median), but rows in the $500–$2K range for a major procedure are typically professional-only and we can't always tell. Use the median and high-end as the realistic range; treat very low rows as partial-cost line items, not full bills.

500 hospitals reporting

Hospital	State	Gross	Cash price	Min negotiated	Max negotiated	Your insurer
SAINT JOSEPH HOSPITAL	KY	$660	$311	$601	$601	1 insurers
SAINT JOSEPH HOSPITAL	KY	$660	$311	$155	$1,538	5 insurers
CARILION STONEWALL JACKSON HOSPITAL	VA	$521	$313	$28.92	$517	1 insurers
KAISER FOUNDATION HOSPITAL	HI	$805	$314	$188	$672	3 insurers
UNIONTOWN HOSPITAL	PA	$618	$309	—	—	5 insurers
ST LOUIS CHILDRENS HOSPITAL	MO	$508	$305	$250	$406	5 insurers
USA HEALTH UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL	AL	$972	$305	—	—	5 insurers
THE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL	NJ	$972	$305	—	—	5 insurers
UNIVERSITY HEALTH SYSTEM, INC	TN	$972	$305	—	—	5 insurers
CHI SAINT JOSEPH BEREA NF	KY	$630	$304	$290	$573	5 insurers
CHI SAINT JOSEPH BEREA NF	KY	$630	$304	$174	$573	5 insurers
PARADISE VALLEY HOSPITAL	CA	$734	$303	$59.57	$734	5 insurers
GARDEN GROVE HOSPITAL & MEDICAL CENTER	CA	$501	$303	$59.57	$501	5 insurers
WEST ANAHEIM MEDICAL CENTER	CA	$501	$303	$59.57	$501	5 insurers
LA PALMA INTERCOMMUNITY HOSPITAL	CA	$501	$303	$59.57	$501	5 insurers
CHINO VALLEY MEDICAL CENTER	CA	$1,260	$303	$59.57	$1,260	5 insurers
SAN DIMAS COMMUNITY HOSPITAL	CA	$1,260	$303	$59.57	$1,260	5 insurers
MONTCLAIR HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER	CA	$1,260	$303	$59.57	$1,260	5 insurers
LAKE CUMBERLAND REGIONAL HOSPITAL	KY	$757	$303	—	—	0 insurers
ST FRANCIS HOSPITAL & MEDICAL CENTER	CT	$605	$303	—	—	5 insurers
BROWARD HEALTH MEDICAL CENTER	FL	$605	$303	—	—	5 insurers
WEST BOCA MEDICAL CENTER	FL	$605	$303	—	—	5 insurers
FLOYD COUNTY MEDICAL CENTER	IA	$605	$303	—	—	5 insurers
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI HEALTH CARE	MO	$605	$303	—	—	5 insurers
MOUNT PLEASANT HOSPITAL	SC	$605	$303	—	—	5 insurers
AURORA MEDICAL CTR MANITOWOC COUNTY	WI	$605	$303	—	—	5 insurers
AURORA MEDICAL CENTER SHEBOYGAN COUNTY	WI	$605	$303	—	—	5 insurers
AURORA MEDICAL CTR WASHINGTON COUNTY	WI	$605	$303	—	—	5 insurers
AURORA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL BURLINGTON	WI	$605	$303	—	—	5 insurers
AURORA LAKELAND MEDICAL CENTER	WI	$605	$303	—	—	5 insurers
AURORA MEDICAL CENTER BAY AREA	WI	$605	$303	—	—	5 insurers
AURORA ST LUKES MEDICAL CENTER	WI	$605	$303	—	—	5 insurers
WEST ALLIS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL	WI	$605	$303	—	—	5 insurers
AURORA MEDICAL CENTER KENOSHA	WI	$605	$303	—	—	5 insurers
AURORA BAYCARE MEDICAL CTR	WI	$605	$303	—	—	5 insurers
AURORA MEDICAL CTR OSHKOSH	WI	$605	$303	—	—	5 insurers
AURORA MEDICAL CENTER - SUMMIT	WI	$605	$303	—	—	5 insurers
AURORA MEDICAL CENTER	WI	$605	$303	—	—	5 insurers
MAUI MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER	HI	$826	$322	—	—	2 insurers
ROME MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, INC	NY	$799	$323	—	—	5 insurers