Chest fluid drain (thoracentesis) Cost in Saint Louis, MO

Prices at 5 hospitals in Saint Louis, MO, from their machine-readable files. Here the median cash price is $2,870 — 129% above the US median ($1,252), roughly 9.2× the Medicare rate.

Lowest cash prices

See negotiated rates for your insurer:

Hospital	Location	Cash	Insurer	CMS rating	ER wait	Readmit
St Louis Childrens Hospital	Saint Louis, MO	$1,118	$1,108	—	—	—
Mercy Hospital South	Saint Louis, MO	$2,201	$725	★ 2/5	246 min	15.8%
Mercy Hospital St Louis	Saint Louis, MO	$2,870	$906	★ 4/5	217 min	15.1%
Christian Hospital Northeast	Saint Louis, MO	$3,372	$5,685	★ 4/5	223 min	14.7%
Missouri Baptist Medical Center	Saint Louis, MO	$3,880	$5,685	★ 5/5	252 min	14.8%

CMS rating = overall hospital star rating (1–5); ER wait = median minutes in the emergency department; Readmit = 30-day readmission rate (lower is better) — all from Medicare’s Care Compare; “—” = not reported. Data last updated July 2026. Prices from hospitals’ machine-readable files (45 CFR §180); Medicare benchmark from CMS PFS/CLFS/IPPS. Prices below 15% of the median are excluded as likely partial or mis-coded charges. Estimates — confirm with the hospital. Report an incorrect price.

Price comparison (median)

Chargemaster (list price)

$4,415

Cash / self-pay

$2,870

Insurer-negotiated

$1,108

Medicare pays

$311

$1,551$3,677

Median cash $2,870 · Medicare $311 · bar = typical cash range (10th–90th percentile)

Is this a fair price?

1× Medicarefair ≈2×5×+

Typical cash price here is $2,870 — about 9.2× the Medicare rate ($311). High vs Medicare. A fair cash price is usually within ~2× Medicare ($622).

💡 Asking for the cash price instead of the $4,415 list price could save about $1,545 (35%).

Estimate what you’ll pay

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Rough estimate from this procedure’s median insurer-negotiated rate. Your actual cost depends on your plan — confirm with your insurer.

Doctors who perform this in Saint Louis

Clinicians who reported the most Medicare volume for this service locally. This reflects Original Medicare activity only and is a volume signal, not a quality ranking.

Clinician	Specialty	Location	Medicare services
Jennifer Massoni, ANP	Nurse Practitioner	Saint Louis, MO	119
Kiran Chunduri, M.D.	Diagnostic Radiology	Saint Louis, MO	84
Bruce Bieneman, MD	Diagnostic Radiology	Saint Louis, MO	42
Bahaa Bedair, MD	Internal Medicine	Saint Louis, MO	41
Christina Kreuzer, PA	Physician Assistant	Saint Louis, MO	39
Ahmed Abdelbaki, M.D.	Interventional Radiology	Saint Louis, MO	33
Patrick Duncan, MD	Pulmonary Disease	Saint Louis, MO	28
Labib Haddad, M.D.	Diagnostic Radiology	Saint Louis, MO	27
Micaela Thomas, PA	Physician Assistant	Saint Louis, MO	26
Suchit Patel, M.D.	Interventional Radiology	Saint Louis, MO	25
Guillermo Gonzalez-Araiza, MD	Diagnostic Radiology	Saint Louis, MO	24
Franka Ofikwu, MD	Diagnostic Radiology	Saint Louis, MO	24

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All Chest fluid drain (thoracentesis) prices in Missouri → · All Chest fluid drain (thoracentesis) prices (national) · All hospitals in Saint Louis