Arm lift cost: brachioplasty, a small room and anesthesia bill
An arm lift removes loose skin of the upper arms; its room and anesthesia lines are among the smallest of the body procedures.
Arm lift, estimated total before the surgeon at national rates
$1,464
Anesthesia $215, operating room $1,248.
| Surgeon's fee | not included, enter your quote |
| Anesthesia, 10.5 units | $215 |
| Operating room, surgery center | $1,248 |
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 15836 | Exc excessive skin arm | 100 % | $1,248 | $1,248 |
Compiled by Radif Partners · Where each line comes from · CMS 2026 rate files · not a quote
The operating room and the anesthesia of an arm lift, or brachioplasty, come to a benchmark of $1,464 at national rates in 2026. The room is paid $1,248 by Medicare to a surgery center for CPT 15836, excision of excessive skin of the arm, and $2,968 to a hospital outpatient department, where the code is comprehensive. Anesthesia comes to $215: the anesthesia code for procedures on the skin of the trunk and limbs carries only 3 base units, and CMS records 113 minutes for the operation. The surgeon's fee is a separate bill that each practice sets and no public file publishes, so the calculator adds it only from your own quote. With such small public lines, two quotes for an arm lift usually differ by the surgeon's fee and by what the package includes.
Why the room is cheap
Medicare places CPT 15836 in a payment group with other skin excisions of the limbs, at a surgery center rate of $1,248, lower than the rate for a tummy tuck though the arm lift lasts about as long in the CMS time file. The surgeon's fee is not tied to that group: it is what each surgeon charges, and no public file records it. The site uses the anesthesia code 00400, procedures on the integumentary system of the extremities, anterior trunk and perineum, which has 3 base units, against 5 for operations on the abdominal wall or the breast.
| Line | Surgery center | Hospital |
|---|---|---|
| Surgeon's fee | your quote | your quote |
| Anesthesia | $215 | $215 |
| Operating room | $1,248 | $2,968 |
| Room and anesthesia | $1,464 | $3,183 |
After weight loss
Many arm lifts follow a large weight loss, and some are combined with liposuction of the arms or with other body lifts. Adding trunk liposuction in the same session brings the room and anesthesia benchmark to $3,018; liposuction of the arms themselves uses its own code, which the site does not price separately. Whether loose skin after weight loss is treated as a medical problem by a health plan is a question for the plan: the insurance page explains how plans draw that line.
An arm lift quote, line by line
Left for the surgeon once the room and anesthesia are counted at Medicare rates
$7,536
| Your quote | $9,000 |
| Operating room at the Medicare rate | $1,248 |
| Anesthesia at the Medicare rate | $215 |
| Left for the surgeon | $7,536 |
Metro areas
Seattle comes to $1,619 and Charlotte to $1,406 for the room and anesthesia: a gap of only $213, because the lines that move with the metro are small here. A quote that differs by thousands from the benchmark differs in the surgeon's fee or in what is included, such as garments and follow-up; asking for the quote split into its lines shows which.