How much does deviated septum surgery cost?
What a septoplasty costs depends on who is paying. Without insurance, the figure to use is a hospital's cash price, and the hospitals below publish theirs. For people on Medicare, what Medicare pays for a septoplasty in 2026 averages $4,000 in total at a hospital outpatient department, of which the patient pays about $799, or $2,093 at an ambulatory surgical center with the patient paying about $418, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; that is the government's rate for Medicare patients, and a private plan or a cash payer is charged its own price. There is no national figure for what private insurance pays: FAIR Health's consumer cost lookup, the nearest thing to one, gives estimates only for a ZIP code you enter, so it is not quoted here. Deviated septum surgery, a septoplasty, is billed under CPT 30520. Boston Medical Center publishes a gross charge of $4,270.00 and a cash price of $1,921.50 for the hospital side in its file dated 13 March 2026. The same file publishes what each plan has agreed to pay: $3,851.46 for Medicare, $2,551.58 for Blue Cross and $9,462.27 for UnitedHealthcare Commercial. Franklin Memorial Hospital and The University of Chicago Medical Center publish no list or cash price for the operation at all, only plan rates. The surgeon and the anesthesia are usually billed separately from the hospital figure.
$4,270.00 list, $1,921.50 cash
CPT 30520, a septoplasty, the hospital side at one hospital on 13 March 2026
$3,851.46
what Medicare pays the same hospital for it
$654.26 to $1,369.83
what named plans pay a second hospital for the surgeon's side alone
$4,000
what Medicare pays in total, Medicare patients only, a septoplasty, hospital outpatient, 2026
$2,093
what Medicare pays in total, Medicare patients only, a septoplasty, ambulatory surgical center, 2026
Cost breakdown
Each table below comes from one source, named underneath it, with the date that source last revised the figures. Everything is a United States figure in USD.
Septoplasty at Boston Medical Center, from its file last updated 13 March 2026
| CPT | Description, as the file prints it | Gross charge | Cash price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30520 | HC Repair of Nasal Septum | $4,270.00 | $1,921.50 |
Septoplasty with insurance: what named plans pay Boston Medical Center, from the same file
| Payer and plan, as the file names them | CPT 30520 |
|---|---|
| Medicare | $3,851.46 |
| Tricare West | $3,658.77 |
| BCBS, Blue Cross | $2,551.58 |
| Harvard Pilgrim | $2,008.14 |
| Tufts PPO | $5,615.20 |
| Aetna | $2,088.03 |
| Cigna | $3,629.50 |
| United, UnitedHealthcare Commercial | $9,462.27 |
Septoplasty at Franklin Memorial Hospital, from its file last updated 9 September 2025
| CPT and billing class | Description, as the file prints it | Gross charge | Cash price | Plan rates, the file's minimum to maximum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30520, facility | REPAIR OF NASAL SEPTUM | not published | not published | $2,008.14 to $14,079.52 outpatient |
| 30520, professional | REPAIR OF NASAL SEPTUM | not published | not published | $654.26 to $1,369.83 |
Septoplasty at The University of Chicago Medical Center, from its file last updated 1 April 2026
| CPT | Description, as the file prints it | Gross charge | Cash price | Plan rates, the file's minimum to maximum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30520 | Repair of nasal septum | not published | not published | $3,552.91 to $11,000.00, four plan entries |
What Medicare pays for septoplasty, 2026, for Medicare patients only: the total and the patient's share
| Procedure | Code | Hospital outpatient total | Patient pays | Surgical center total | Patient pays |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Septoplasty | 30520 | $4,000 | $799 | $2,093 | $418 |
A bar for each row of the table above, 8 of them, drawn to the same scale so the spread is visible at a glance. The figure beside each bar is the one the table prints.
What changes the price
- Which hospital, and whether it publishes a cash price at all
- Boston Medical Center publishes a cash price of $1,921.50 against a gross charge of $4,270.00. Franklin Memorial Hospital and The University of Chicago Medical Center publish no cash price for a septoplasty.
- Which plan you have
- Boston Medical Center publishes plan rates for the same code from $2,008.14 for Harvard Pilgrim to $9,462.27 for UnitedHealthcare Commercial, with Medicare at $3,851.46.
- The surgeon is a separate bill
- Franklin Memorial Hospital publishes the professional side of the same code as plan rates from a minimum of $654.26 to a maximum of $1,369.83, on top of the facility side.
- Whether it is combined with a nose job
- Reshaping the outside of the nose is a different procedure under a different code from CPT 30520. Ask for the two to be quoted apart.
How to pay less
- Ask for three quotes: hospital, surgeon and anesthesia
- The hospital figure on this page is one of them. A quote that covers only one is not the cost of the operation.
- Ask the hospital for its cash price by code
- Quote CPT 30520. Boston Medical Center publishes a cash price under half its gross charge; the other two hospitals here publish none, so ask for one in writing.
- Ask your plan whether it needs approval first
- Ask before the date is booked, and get the answer in writing.
Questions
How much does a septoplasty cost with Medicare?
Medicare's national average total for a septoplasty in 2026 is $4,000 in a hospital outpatient department, with the patient paying $799 on average, or $2,093 in an ambulatory surgical center, with the patient paying $418, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. With a private plan, your cost depends on its negotiated rate and your deductible; without insurance, ask for the cash price, which the hospital files on this page publish.
How much does a septoplasty cost?
For the hospital side, Boston Medical Center publishes $4,270.00 for CPT 30520 with a cash price of $1,921.50. Franklin Memorial Hospital and The University of Chicago Medical Center publish only plan rates for it. The surgeon and anesthesia are usually billed apart.
How much is deviated septum surgery without insurance?
Of the three hospitals here, only Boston Medical Center publishes a cash price for it: $1,921.50 for the hospital side, in its file dated 13 March 2026.
How much is a septoplasty with insurance?
Your share of what your plan has agreed with the hospital. Boston Medical Center publishes $3,851.46 for Medicare, $3,658.77 for Tricare West, $2,551.58 for Blue Cross, $2,088.03 for Aetna, $3,629.50 for Cigna and $9,462.27 for UnitedHealthcare Commercial.
Why do some plans pay more than the list price?
A plan rate is set by the contract between the plan and the hospital, and it can sit above the list price. Boston Medical Center publishes $9,462.27 for UnitedHealthcare Commercial and $5,615.20 for Tufts PPO against its own list price of $4,270.00.
Why does a hospital have to publish this?
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services requires every hospital operating in the United States to publish a comprehensive machine-readable file of all items and services and a consumer-friendly display of shoppable services, states that it audits a sample of hospitals and investigates complaints, and states that hospitals may face civil monetary penalties for noncompliance.
Where these figures come from
Every figure here is published by the hospital named beside it, in US dollars, in the United States, in its own machine-readable standard charges file under 45 CFR 180.50, and each file carries the attestation that the information encoded is true, accurate and complete as of the date in the file. The dates are the ones the files give themselves: 13 March 2026 for Boston Medical Center, attested by Christopher Abate, 9 September 2025 for Franklin Memorial Hospital, attested by Kenneth Olsen, and 1 April 2026 for The University of Chicago Medical Center, attested by Chris Allen. All three files were downloaded again before this page was written, and each was byte-identical to the copy read on 25 September 2026. BEFORE ANY CODE WAS QUOTED, THE DISTINCT PUBLISHED PRICES FOR IT WERE COUNTED PER CODE AND PER BILLING CLASS. Where a file publishes no gross or cash figure, the page says "not published". Plan rates are what a plan pays the hospital, not what a patient owes. The plan rows chosen are Medicare, Tricare West and the main commercial plan the file lists for each insurer named; nothing here is averaged or restated as a typical cost, and three hospitals are three hospitals rather than a national picture.