How much is a vasectomy?
What a vasectomy 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 vasectomy in 2026 averages $2,353 in total at a hospital outpatient department, of which the patient pays about $470, or $1,219 at an ambulatory surgical center with the patient paying about $243, 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. At a hospital, a vasectomy is billed under CPT 55250. Boston Medical Center publishes a gross charge of $5,766.00 and a cash price of $2,594.70 in its file dated 13 March 2026. The University of Chicago Medical Center publishes $8,408.00 on its main hospital line in its file dated 1 April 2026, the same figure for cash. Franklin Memorial Hospital publishes no list or cash price for it at all, only what named plans pay. With insurance, Boston Medical Center publishes what each plan has agreed to pay it: $2,428.33 for Medicare, $1,989.50 for Blue Cross and $5,965.92 for UnitedHealthcare Commercial. Many vasectomies are done in a urologist's office, where none of these hospital figures applies.
$5,766.00 list, $2,594.70 cash
CPT 55250, a vasectomy, at one hospital on 13 March 2026
$8,408.00
the same code at a second hospital, on its main line, list and cash alike
$2,428.33
what Medicare pays the first hospital for it
$2,353
what Medicare pays in total, Medicare patients only, a vasectomy, hospital outpatient, 2026
$1,219
what Medicare pays in total, Medicare patients only, a vasectomy, 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.
Vasectomy at Boston Medical Center, from its file last updated 13 March 2026
| CPT | Description, as the file prints it | Gross charge | Cash price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55250 | HC Vasectomy Uni/Bi Spx W/Postop Semen Exams | $5,766.00 | $2,594.70 |
Vasectomy with insurance: what named plans pay Boston Medical Center, from the same file
| Payer and plan, as the file names them | CPT 55250 |
|---|---|
| Medicare | $2,428.33 |
| Tricare West | $2,311.09 |
| BCBS, Blue Cross | $1,989.50 |
| Harvard Pilgrim | $1,565.78 |
| Tufts PPO | $1,505.24 |
| Aetna | $2,819.57 |
| Cigna | $4,901.10 |
| United, UnitedHealthcare Commercial | $5,965.92 |
Vasectomy 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55250 | Hc Vasectomy, Unilateral Or Bilateral, Postop Semen Examination | $8,408.00 | $8,408.00 | see the last row |
| 55250 | Hc Vasectomy, Unilateral Or Bilateral, Postop Semen Examination-Pbb | $8,408.00 on one entry, $10,377.00 on another | the same as gross | see the last row |
| 55250 | Pr Vasectomy Uni/Bi Spx W/Postop Semen Exams-Pbb | $1,969.00 | $1,969.00 | see the last row |
| 55250 | Removal of sperm duct(s) | not published | not published | $2,240.09 to $11,000.00, four plan entries |
Vasectomy 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55250, facility | REMOVAL OF SPERM DUCT(S) | not published | not published | $1,565.78 to $8,893.42 outpatient |
| 55250, professional | REMOVAL OF SPERM DUCT(S) | not published | not published | $220.27 to $648.25 |
What Medicare pays for vasectomy, 2026, for Medicare patients only: the total and the patient's share
| Procedure | Code | Hospital outpatient total | Patient pays | Surgical center total | Patient pays |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vasectomy | 55250 | $2,353 | $470 | $1,219 | $243 |
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
- Hospital or office
- Every figure on this page is a hospital's. Many vasectomies are done in a urologist's office, and an office is not required to publish a file like these, so its price has to be asked for.
- Which hospital
- Boston Medical Center publishes $5,766.00 as its gross charge and The University of Chicago Medical Center publishes $8,408.00 on its main line, each for the same code.
- Whether you are paying cash
- Boston Medical Center publishes a cash price of $2,594.70 against its gross charge of $5,766.00. The University of Chicago Medical Center publishes the same figure for cash as for list.
- Which plan you have
- Boston Medical Center publishes plan rates for the same code from $1,505.24 for Tufts PPO to $5,965.92 for UnitedHealthcare Commercial, with Medicare at $2,428.33.
How to pay less
- Ask your plan whether it covers a vasectomy as birth control
- Coverage varies by plan. If it is covered, the plan's rate is what matters, and your share of it depends on your deductible.
- Ask a urologist's office for its price in writing
- An office quote usually leaves out a hospital facility charge altogether. Ask whether the semen test afterwards is included, because the hospital code here includes it.
- Ask a hospital for its cash price by code
- Quote CPT 55250. Boston Medical Center publishes a cash price well under its gross charge; the other two hospitals here publish no cash discount.
Questions
How much does a vasectomy cost with Medicare?
Medicare's national average total for a vasectomy in 2026 is $2,353 in a hospital outpatient department, with the patient paying $470 on average, or $1,219 in an ambulatory surgical center, with the patient paying $243, 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 is a vasectomy?
At a hospital, Boston Medical Center publishes $5,766.00 for CPT 55250 and The University of Chicago Medical Center publishes $8,408.00 on its main line, each in its own dated and attested file. An office vasectomy is priced by the office.
How much is a vasectomy without insurance?
That is the cash price where a hospital publishes one. Boston Medical Center publishes $2,594.70. The University of Chicago Medical Center publishes the same figure for cash as for list, $8,408.00, and Franklin Memorial Hospital publishes no cash price for it.
How much is a vasectomy with insurance?
Your share of what your plan has agreed with the hospital. Boston Medical Center publishes $2,428.33 for Medicare, $2,311.09 for Tricare West, $1,989.50 for Blue Cross, $2,819.57 for Aetna, $4,901.10 for Cigna and $5,965.92 for UnitedHealthcare Commercial.
Does the price include the semen test afterwards?
In the hospital code, yes. Boston Medical Center describes CPT 55250 as a vasectomy with the postoperative semen examinations, one or both sides. Ask an office whether its quote includes the test.
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 one code carries more than one price, every price is shown with the line it sits on. 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 national or regional insurer named; nothing here is averaged or restated as a typical cost, and three hospitals are three hospitals rather than a national picture.