Surgery and procedures CPT 32555 Maryland Outpatient

Thoracentesis cost in Maryland

In Maryland, 5 hospitals publish a cash price for thoracentesis with imaging guidance: from $132.41 to $2,090.52, with a median of $1,249.16. The lowest price is at Greater Baltimore Medical Center (Towson). The highest price is 15.8× the lowest.

The median here, $1,249.16, is 2% above the US median of $1,224.53.
That is 1.9× Medicare's 2026 national rate for the same service ($640.89).
Maryland ranks 26th of 50 states by median, cheapest first.
2 of 5 hospitals list a cash price equal to their full list price, with no self-pay discount.

Why Maryland prices look low: Maryland is the only state where a commission (the HSCRC) sets hospital rates for every payer, so its hospitals publish prices far below the rest of the country. A separate physician fee may still apply.

Maryland law (Health-General §19-214.1) requires hospitals to give free medically necessary care to patients with family income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level and to cut the bill by 75% up to 250% and 60% up to 300%. With medical debt above 25% of family income in a year, discounts reach up to 500%. Immigration status does not count. Ask the hospital for its financial assistance application. Other states' laws.

Outpatient cash prices, one line per hospital — its lowest listed price for code 32555. Prices for both sides of the body and inpatient prices are not mixed in. Collected Sep 27, 2026. See them on a map

Lowest$132.41Greater Baltimore Medical Center

Median$1,249.16half of hospitals charge less

Highest$2,090.52in Maryland

Lowest saves$1,116.75vs the median

Hospitals in Maryland, cheapest first

Hospital	Cash price	List price	File date
Greater Baltimore Medical Center lowest Towson · Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD HC CT Guided Thoracentesis	$132.41	$135.11	Jul 1, 2026 source file
Union Hospital of Cecil County Elkton · Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD THORACENTESIS,NEEDLE/CATH,W IMAG GLP	$923.24	$923.24	Apr 1, 2026 source file
TidalHealth Peninsula Salisbury · Salisbury, MD HC US THORA	$1,249.16	$1,274.65	Mar 19, 2026 source file
Mercy Medical Center Baltimore · Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD HC THORACENTESIS ASP PLEURAL SPACE W IMAGE GUIDANCE	$1,911.54	$1,950.55	Jan 1, 2026 source file
Atlantic General Hospital Berlin · Ocean Pines, MD Thoracentesis, needle or catheter, aspiration of the pleural space; with imaging guidance	$2,090.52	$2,090.52	Apr 10, 2026 source file

Hospital The hospital that published the price, its city and the line exactly as written in its price file.

Cash price The hospital's own price for a patient paying without insurance (“discounted cash” in its price file). Hospitals must publish it under federal law, 45 CFR 180.50. Call to confirm it before booking. More

List price The hospital's full chargemaster price (“gross charge”) before any discount. Almost nobody pays it; the gap to the cash price shows what the self-pay discount is worth. More

File date When the hospital last updated its price file, as the file says itself. A dash means the file gives no date.

At or below Medicare This cash price is at or below what Medicare pays a hospital for the same service, which is unusually low. It is what the hospital's file says; confirm it and what it includes before booking. More

No cash discount This line's cash price equals the hospital's full list price. Many hospitals still reduce bills for uninsured patients: ask the billing office for its self-pay discount in writing. More

By metro area

Each metro page compares every listing, including prices for both sides of the body.

Metro area	Hospitals	Lowest	Median
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	2	$132.41	$1,021.98
Ocean Pines, MD	1	$2,090.52	$2,090.52
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	1	$923.24	$923.24
Salisbury, MD	1	$1,249.16	$1,249.16

Market A metro area (as the Census Bureau defines it) or, outside metro areas, a town. Each links to every hospital price there.

Hospitals How many hospitals publish a cash price for this code here. Each hospital counts once, at its lowest outpatient cash price.

Lowest The lowest cash price among those hospitals.

Median The middle cash price: half of the hospitals charge less, half charge more. One price per hospital. More

What thoracentesis is, what the price covers and why prices differ: Thoracentesis explained.

Thoracentesis with imaging guidance in other states

Median cash price across the state's hospitals.