Plastic surgery cost, split into the four lines of the bill
Choose a procedure and a metro area: the surgeon, the anesthesia and the operating room appear as separate lines, each with the file it comes from.
Tummy tuck, estimated total before the surgeon at national rates
$3,115
Anesthesia $266, operating room $2,848.
| Surgeon's fee | not included, enter your quote |
| Anesthesia, 13 units | $266 |
| Operating room, surgery center | $2,848 |
Benchmark, not a quote: the operating room and anesthesia lines are 2026 Medicare rates for the same codes; private prices for cosmetic work are set by each practice and are often higher. No public file prices the surgeon's fee: it counts only once you enter the figure from your own quote.
| Code | CMS short descriptor | Share paid | National rate | Local amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPT 15830 | Exc excessive skin abdomen | 100 % | $2,848 | $2,848 |
Medicare 2026 rate files, 26 metro areas · Where each line comes from · Who publishes this · updated
The cost pages that rank first give one figure or one undated range with nothing to separate it, and end on a consultation or a credit form; this site splits each bill into the surgeon's fee, the anesthesia and the operating room, prices the last two from Medicare's 2026 rate files adjusted to your metro area, lets you add the surgeon from your own quote, names and dates every figure, and asks you for nothing.
A cosmetic surgery quote is the sum of at least three bills that are priced by different people: the surgeon, the anesthesia team and the facility. For a tummy tuck the anesthesia comes to $266 at the 2026 Medicare rate for the time the operation usually takes, and a surgery center's operating room to $2,848 at the 2026 Medicare rate for the same code, or $6,784 in a hospital outpatient department. Those two lines make a benchmark of $3,115 before the surgeon, any garment, medicine or day off work; the anesthesia is 9 % of it. The surgeon's fee is the one line no public file publishes: each practice sets it, so the calculator adds it only when you type the figure of your quote. Private practices also set the price of the room and the anesthesia, usually above Medicare rates, so the benchmark is a floor to hold a quote against, not a quote.
- 1 Surgeon's feeSet by each practice; no public file publishes it. Type the figure of your quote in the calculator above. your quote
- 2 Anesthesia5 base units plus 8 time units for 120 minutes, at the 2026 Medicare national factor of $20.50. $266
- 3 Operating roomSurgery center rate for CPT 15830, Addendum AA, October 2026. $2,848
- 4 The weeks after14 unpaid working days at the US median pay, before garments and medicines. Depends entirely on you. $3,503
Every procedure, line by line
| Procedure | Anesthesia | Room, surgery center | Room, hospital | Room and anesthesia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breast augmentation | $184 | $3,172 | $8,350 | $3,356 |
| Rhinoplasty | $266 | $3,026 | $6,048 | $3,292 |
| Brazilian butt lift | $340 | $2,911 | $5,431 | $3,251 |
| Chin implant | $178 | $3,026 | $6,048 | $3,204 |
| Tummy tuck | $266 | $2,848 | $6,784 | $3,115 |
| Breast lift | $266 | $2,848 | $6,784 | $3,115 |
| Facelift | $312 | $1,941 | $3,620 | $2,252 |
| Liposuction | $299 | $1,941 | $3,620 | $2,240 |
| Otoplasty | $266 | $1,481 | $3,387 | $1,747 |
| Gynecomastia surgery | $129 | $1,603 | $4,000 | $1,732 |
| Thigh lift | $266 | $1,248 | $2,968 | $1,515 |
| Arm lift | $215 | $1,248 | $2,968 | $1,464 |
| Brow lift | $199 | $1,088 | $2,429 | $1,287 |
| Lower eyelid surgery | $152 | $1,129 | $2,108 | $1,280 |
| Upper eyelid surgery | $148 | $1,129 | $2,108 | $1,276 |
Why the price of a procedure is never one number
When a practice quotes a cosmetic operation it usually gives one figure, sometimes called all inclusive. Behind it sit three people or businesses who each charge for their part. The surgeon charges for the operation and the follow-up visits. An anesthesiologist or a nurse anesthetist charges for keeping you asleep or sedated, by the quarter hour. The facility, a surgery center or a hospital, charges for the operating room, the staff and the supplies of the day. A fourth line arrives later and never appears on the quote: the garments, the medicines and the days you do not work.
A figure that circulates online often describes one of these lines without saying which. A reader who compares an all-inclusive quote with a figure that covers only the surgeon, or only the room, is comparing a whole bill with one of its parts. This site keeps the lines apart and prices the two that public files cover; the surgeon's line stays yours to fill from the quote.
Where the operating room and anesthesia figures come from
Medicare does not pay for cosmetic surgery: the rule is written in 42 CFR 411.15(h). But the same procedure codes are billed when the work is reconstructive or medically necessary, and for those Medicare publishes what it pays every year, line by line. The surgery center rate file (Addendum AA) gives the facility payment for each code in an ambulatory surgery center, the hospital outpatient file (Addendum B) gives it for a hospital department, and the anesthesia conversion factors turn the anesthesia units of each operation into dollars for every Medicare locality.
These are the public prices nearest to the cosmetic bill. A cosmetic patient pays a private price, which a practice sets as it likes and which is usually higher. The Medicare figure is therefore a benchmark that a quote can be held against: an operating room quoted at three times the Medicare rate is not unusual, one quoted below it deserves a question about what is left out.
Surgery center or hospital, for the same code
Operating room for breast augmentation, hospital minus surgery center
$5,179
| Surgery center (ASC) | $3,172 |
| Hospital outpatient department | $8,350 |
| Hospital as a multiple of the center | 2.63 x |
How the metro area moves the bill
Medicare adjusts the operating room payment with the wage index of the place: half of the surgery center rate, and sixty percent of the hospital rate, rise or fall with local wages, as the final rule for 2026 sets out. Anesthesia has its own conversion factor for each Medicare locality. That is why the gap between metros is narrow here: for a tummy tuck, the room and anesthesia reach $4,125 in San Francisco and $2,856 in San Antonio. Surgeons' fees may differ much more from one city to another, but no public file measures them, so the calculator leaves that line to your quote.
The comparison of metro areas shows every procedure in the 26 metros priced here, and each city page explains what is particular about its rates.
Several procedures in one session
Combining operations lowers two of the lines. Medicare pays the highest rated code of a session in full and every other eligible code at half its rate (42 CFR 416.172), and anesthesia is billed once, with the base units of the most demanding procedure and the time of the whole session. A tummy tuck, a breast lift and liposuction in one session make a room and anesthesia benchmark of $5,911, against $8,469 for three separate operations. The mommy makeover page and the page on combined procedures detail the arithmetic.
What these figures are not
They are not a price offered by anyone, and they say nothing about whether an operation is right for you, safe for you or worth doing. Those are questions for a board-certified surgeon who has examined you. The site uses medical vocabulary only to name the codes behind a bill, links to the MedlinePlus pages of the National Library of Medicine for what each procedure involves, and never ranks surgeons, clinics or lenders. The method page gives every formula and its limits.
The bill in your metro area
- Atlanta
- Boston
- Chicago
- Dallas
- Houston
- Las Vegas
- Los Angeles
- Miami
- New York City
- Phoenix
- San Diego
- Washington, DC
Body and breast
- Tummy tuck costAnesthesia and operating room of a full abdominoplasty for your metro area, plus your surgeon quote.
- Liposuction costLiposuction of the abdomen and flanks: anesthesia by the hour, operating room, and your surgeon quote.
- BBL costBrazilian butt lift: the fat harvest and the transfer billed as two codes, and what each line costs.
- Breast augmentation costImplants, anesthesia and the operating room, with the hospital rate that is far above the center.
- Breast lift costMastopexy without implants: a longer operation than an augmentation, a lower room, and implants as an option.
- Mommy makeover costTummy tuck, breast surgery and liposuction in one session: what combining saves, and what it does not.
- Arm lift costBrachioplasty: a modest operating room, anesthesia on few base units, and your surgeon quote on top.
- Thigh lift costThighplasty: same room rate as an arm lift, longer anesthesia, and your surgeon quote on top.
- Gynecomastia surgery costMale breast reduction: the shortest body operation here, a small anesthesia line, and when a plan might pay.
Face and injectables
- Rhinoplasty costNose reshaping: anesthesia and a room priced like other complex face operations, plus your surgeon quote.
- Facelift costA rhytidectomy of the cheek, chin and neck: the room and anesthesia lines, alone or with the eyelids or brow.
- Eyelid surgery costUpper and lower blepharoplasty: one room rate for both, a short anesthesia, and the line between cosmetic and vision.
- Brow lift costForehead lift: the smallest room rate of the face procedures, often done with the upper eyelids.
- Chin implant costChin augmentation: a large room line for a short operation, often paired with a rhinoplasty.
- Otoplasty costEar pinning: a two-hour operation, often for children, priced line by line.
- Botox costUnits per area from the FDA label, the toxin at the Medicare payment limit, and your quote per unit against it.
Reading the bill
- Anesthesia feeBase units, time units and the local conversion factor: how an anesthesia bill is built.
- Surgery center or hospitalThe operating room line in a surgery center and in a hospital department, code by code.
- Combined proceduresWhat a second or third procedure in the same session saves on the room and the anesthesia.
- Reading a quoteTake an all-inclusive price apart: what the room and anesthesia take at public rates, and what is left for the surgeon.
- Paying over timePersonal loan, credit card or deferred-interest medical card: what spreading the bill really costs.
- Insurance and cosmetic surgeryWhere plans and Medicare draw the line between cosmetic and reconstructive, and the federal rules behind it.
- Recovery and time offThe fourth line of the bill: unpaid days off work, garments, medicines and help at home.
- Cost by cityThe same procedure in 26 metro areas: what the wage index and anesthesia factors change, and what they do not.
What readers ask about this bill
How much does plastic surgery cost in 2026?
It depends on the procedure, and on whose fee you count. At 2026 Medicare rates for a surgery center and anesthesia, the room and anesthesia of a tummy tuck come to about $3,115, liposuction of the trunk $2,240, a breast augmentation $3,356 and a facelift $2,252. The surgeon's fee comes on top, and private facilities usually charge more than Medicare.
Why is the surgeon not priced on this site?
Because no public file publishes what surgeons charge for cosmetic work. Medicare does not cover it, so its physician fee schedule gives no cosmetic fee, and each practice sets its own price. The calculator therefore prices the operating room and the anesthesia from public files and adds the surgeon only when you type the figure of your quote.
Why are Medicare rates used for cosmetic surgery?
Because they are the only public prices for the same codes. Medicare excludes cosmetic surgery from coverage, but it pays for these operations when they are reconstructive, and it publishes the facility and anesthesia payment for every code each year. A cosmetic patient pays a private price set by the practice, usually higher, so the Medicare figure works as a floor to compare a quote with.
Is a surgery center cheaper than a hospital?
At Medicare rates, usually yes. For a tummy tuck the 2026 surgery center payment is $2,848 at national rates and the hospital outpatient payment $6,784. Private prices follow the same direction in many markets, but a surgeon may operate only in one place, and the choice also depends on your health, which the surgeon and anesthesia team assess.
Does the city change the price of plastic surgery?
It changes all three lines, but the public files only measure two of them. Medicare's wage index and anesthesia factors move the room and the anesthesia by a few hundred dollars between metros; a rhinoplasty room and anesthesia benchmark ranges from $3,018 to $4,364. Surgeons' own fees may differ more between cities, but no public file measures them by metro.
What costs come after the surgery?
Compression garments, prescriptions, follow-up visits beyond those included in the fee, help at home and, above all, unpaid days off work. At the US median of $1,251 a week for full-time workers, ten unpaid working days cost about $2,502. The calculator adds those days and items as a fourth line of the bill.
Does health insurance pay for cosmetic surgery?
Not for work done to change appearance. Plans and Medicare exclude it, and Medicare writes that exclusion into federal regulation. Some of the same operations are covered when they are reconstructive, such as a breast reconstruction after cancer or a rhinoplasty that restores breathing; the insurance page of this site sets out how a plan decides, which always needs the plan's own written approval.
Rate files and documents behind this page
- CMS, ASC payment rates addenda: Addendum AA, ASC covered surgical procedures, October 2026 update
- CMS, OPPS Addendum B, payment by HCPCS code for CY 2026, October 2026 update
- CMS, Anesthesiologists Center: CY 2026 locality-adjusted anesthesia conversion factors and anesthesia base units by code
- CMS, FY 2026 wage index home page: Table 3, wage index by CBSA (final rule)
- Federal Register, November 25, 2025: CY 2026 OPPS and ASC payment systems final rule (labor-related shares, wage index, ASC conversion factor)
- 42 CFR 411.15(h): Medicare exclusion of cosmetic surgery and related services
- 42 CFR 416.172: adjustments to national ASC payment rates, including the multiple procedure reduction
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers (series LEU0252881500), second quarter of 2026
Compiled by Radif Partners
Independent publisher of cosmetic surgery cost breakdowns built from public Medicare rate files
Rates and sources checked on · Editorial policy · Contact
These figures are benchmarks: public Medicare rates for the operating room and anesthesia of the same codes; the surgeon's fee, which no public file publishes, counts only from your own quote. A practice sets its own prices, often above Medicare rates, and only a surgeon who has examined you can say what you need. The site describes bills, never whether a procedure suits you, and earns nothing from any surgeon, clinic, drug maker or lender.
Rates of 2026, files last read on