Breathing treatment cost in Ames, IA — inpatient
In Ames, IA, 1 hospital lists a cash price for breathing treatment (nebulizer or inhaler) for airway obstruction as an inpatient: from $47.20 to $47.20, with a median of $47.20. Across Iowa, the median is $110.40 at 75 hospitals.
Cash prices at 1 facility for code 94640, as an inpatient (admitted to hospital) . Collected Sep 27, 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 Ames, IA.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list | File date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Story County Hospital lowest Nevada, IA · (515) 382-2111 PR PRESSURIZED/NONPRESSURIZED INHALATION TREATMENT | $47.20 | $59.00 | $40.00–$59.00 | 20% | — source file |
| Story County Hospital Nevada, IA · (515) 382-2111 HC MDI AIRWAY INHALATION TX SUBQ | $60.00 | $75.00 | $51.00–$75.00 | 20% | — source file |
| Story County Hospital Nevada, IA · (515) 382-2111 HC MDI AIRWAY INHALATION TX INITIAL | $69.60 | $87.00 | $60.00–$87.00 | 20% | — source file |
| Story County Hospital Nevada, IA · (515) 382-2111 HC AIRWAY INHALATION TREATMENT SUBQ | $129.60 | $162.00 | $111.00–$162.00 | 20% | — source file |
Inpatient: lowest $47.20, median $47.20, highest $47.20.
As an outpatient, the same code is billed by 2 facilities here, median $38.00 — that is the price to compare if you are not being admitted.
Cash or insurance?
At the one hospital here that publishes insurer rates for this code, the cash price is below the highest rate a health plan has negotiated. 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
A breathing treatment delivers medicine such as albuterol through a nebulizer or inhaler to open the airways during an asthma or COPD flare.
What the price covers
The price is for one treatment. Repeated treatments in one visit can each be billed, and the medicine may be billed separately.
1 row held back from this comparison
It is priced below $1 or below a tenth of the national median for code 94640 ($173.50). Such a line is almost always a physician's fee billed separately, an assistant's share or a placeholder — a real charge, but not the price of the procedure itself.
| Story County Hospital Nevada, IAHC AIRWAY INHALATION TREATMENT INITIAL | $11.20 | file |