Ear tubes, local anesthesia cost in Boston, MA — inpatient
In Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH, 4 hospitals list a cash price for ear tube placement (tympanostomy) with local anesthesia, one ear as an inpatient: from $889.15 to $1,431.00, with a median of $1,171.70. The lowest listed price is at Boston Medical Center Brighton — $282.55 less than the median here. Across Massachusetts, the median is $1,424.50 at 7 hospitals.
Cash prices at 4 facilities across 2 cities for code 69433, as an inpatient (admitted to hospital) . Collected Sep 23, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between — and —.
Where each hospital's price falls
Each dot is one hospital's cash price on a scale from the lowest to the highest in Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list | File date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Medical Center Brighton lowest Boston, MA · (617) 789-3000 HC Tympanostomy Local/Topical Anesthesia | $889.15 | $1,975.88 | $312.93–$1,929.98 | 55% | — source file |
| Boston Medical Center Boston, MA · (617) 638-8000 HC Tympanostomy Local/Topical Anesthesia | $918.90 | $2,042.00 | $431.24–$1,735.70 | 55% | — source file |
| Tufts Medical Center one side Boston, MA · (617) 636-5000 HC Tympanostomy Local; Unilateral | $1,424.50 | $2,035.00 | $534.39–$3,052.50 | 30% | — source file |
| Cambridge Health Alliance Cambridge, MA · (617) 665-1000 HC Tympanostomy W/Tube Insertion | $1,431.00 | $1,431.00 | $106.29–$1,431.00 | — | — source file |
Inpatient: lowest $889.15, median $1,171.70, highest $1,431.00 — a 1.6× difference within the same market.
As an outpatient, the same code is billed by 4 facilities here, median $1,171.70 — that is the price to compare if you are not being admitted.
Cash or insurance?
At 3 of 4 hospitals that publish insurer rates for this code here, the cash price is below the highest rate a health plan has negotiated, and at none is it below every plan's rate. If you have insurance but have not met your deductible, you usually pay your plan's negotiated rate, which falls somewhere in the "Insurers pay" column. Paying cash can cost less, but a cash payment usually does not count toward your deductible. Ask the hospital for both numbers before you book.
What it is
This code covers placing a small tube in the eardrum while awake, with numbing medicine, usually in older children or adults.
What the price covers
The price covers the procedure and the tube. The office visit may be billed separately.