Breathing treatment cost in Washington, DC
In Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, 6 hospitals list a cash price for breathing treatment (nebulizer or inhaler) for airway obstruction: from $138.00 to $167.00, with a median of $167.00. The lowest listed price is at Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center — $29.00 less than the median here.
Cash prices at 6 facilities across 5 cities for code 94640, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Sep 23, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Apr 1, 2026 and Apr 1, 2026.
Where each hospital's price falls
Each dot is one hospital's cash price on a scale from the lowest to the highest in Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list | File date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center lowest Woodbridge, VA · (703) 523-1000 Nebulizer Inline Tx Subseq | $138.00 | $276.00 | — | 50% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
| Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center Woodbridge, VA · (703) 523-1000 94640 Hand-Held/Aerosl Nebuliz | $158.50 | $317.00 | — | 50% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
| Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center Woodbridge, VA · (703) 523-1000 Pressurized/Nonpressurized Inhalation Treatment | $158.50 | $317.00 | — | 50% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
| Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center Woodbridge, VA · (703) 523-1000 Airway Inhal Trmt Sputum Ind | $158.50 | $317.00 | — | 50% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
| Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center Woodbridge, VA · (703) 523-1000 Spec-Aerosol Nebulization | $158.50 | $317.00 | — | 50% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
| Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center Woodbridge, VA · (703) 523-1000 Ippb Initial | $158.50 | $317.00 | — | 50% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
| Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center Woodbridge, VA · (703) 523-1000 Ippb Subsequent | $158.50 | $317.00 | — | 50% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
| Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center Woodbridge, VA · (703) 523-1000 Nebulizer Hh Tx Initial | $158.50 | $317.00 | — | 50% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
| Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center Woodbridge, VA · (703) 523-1000 Nebulizer Hh Tx Subsequent | $158.50 | $317.00 | — | 50% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
| Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center Woodbridge, VA · (703) 523-1000 Nebulizer Treatment Vent Initi | $158.50 | $317.00 | — | 50% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
| Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center Woodbridge, VA · (703) 523-1000 Sputum Induction | $158.50 | $317.00 | — | 50% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
| Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center Woodbridge, VA · (703) 523-1000 Mid Inline T.X. | $158.50 | $317.00 | — | 50% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
| Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center Woodbridge, VA · (703) 523-1000 Aerosol/Day | $158.50 | $317.00 | — | 50% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
| Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center Woodbridge, VA · (703) 523-1000 Metered Dose Inhaler Treatment | $158.50 | $317.00 | — | 50% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
| Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center Woodbridge, VA · (703) 523-1000 Spontaneous Heliox 1St Day | $158.50 | $317.00 | — | 50% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
| Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center Woodbridge, VA · (703) 523-1000 Spontaneous Subseq Days | $158.50 | $317.00 | — | 50% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
| Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center Woodbridge, VA · (703) 523-1000 Vent Initial Heox 1St Day | $158.50 | $317.00 | — | 50% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
| Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center Woodbridge, VA · (703) 523-1000 Vent Heox-Subsequent Day | $158.50 | $317.00 | — | 50% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
| Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center Woodbridge, VA · (703) 523-1000 Intrapulmonary Secretion Clearance | $158.50 | $317.00 | — | 50% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
| Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center Woodbridge, VA · (703) 523-1000 Metered Dose Inhaler Tx Initial | $158.50 | $317.00 | — | 50% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
| Inova Alexandria Hospital Alexandria, VA · (703) 504-3167 HC INH TX AIR OBST/SPUT IND | $167.00 | $334.00 | $49.67–$1,030.00 | 50% | — source file |
| Inova Fairfax Hospital Falls Church, VA · (703) 698-1110 HC INH TX AIR OBST/SPUT IND | $167.00 | $334.00 | $49.67–$1,208.00 | 50% | — source file |
| Inova Loudoun Hospital Leesburg, VA · (703) 858-6600 HC INH TX AIR OBST/SPUT IND | $167.00 | $334.00 | $49.67–$1,030.00 | 50% | — source file |
| Inova Mount Vernon Hospital Alexandria, VA · (703) 664-7105 HC INH TX AIR OBST/SPUT IND | $167.00 | $334.00 | $49.67–$1,030.00 | 50% | — source file |
| Inova Fair Oaks Hospital Fairfax, VA · (703) 391-4170 HC INH TX AIR OBST/SPUT IND | $167.00 | $334.00 | $49.67–$1,030.00 | 50% | — source file |
Outpatient: lowest $138.00, median $167.00, highest $167.00 — a 1.2× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 7 facilities here, median $167.00. Inpatient and outpatient prices are not comparable and are kept on separate pages: the inpatient charge covers admission, not the same purchase.
Cash or insurance?
At 5 of 5 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
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.
| Jefferson Medical Center Ranson, WVAIRWAY INHALATION TREATMENT | $9.00 | file |