How much does a colonoscopy cost?
At the Virginia and North Carolina hospitals we cover, published cash prices run from $320 to $13,524 — and which of five billing types applies matters as much as which hospital you choose.
The five kinds of colonoscopy on a hospital bill
Hospitals don't publish one colonoscopy price — they publish up to five, depending on why the exam is done and what happens during it. Same room, same scope, different code on the bill. Here's what each one means and what hospitals publish for it:
| Type | Published cash price | Median | Hospitals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screening colonoscopy (average risk) The routine preventive screening most people mean — no symptoms, no elevated risk, typically every 10 years starting at 45. |
$839 – $12,122 | $1,680 | 22 |
| Screening colonoscopy (high risk) The same preventive screening on a shorter cycle for people with personal or family history. |
$839 – $12,765 | $1,625 | 21 |
| Diagnostic colonoscopy Ordered because of symptoms or a positive stool test — same procedure, billed under a different code. |
$320 – $12,079 | $1,386 | 46 |
| Colonoscopy with biopsy A tissue sample is taken during the exam. |
$345 – $13,524 | $1,489 | 28 |
| Colonoscopy with polyp removal A polyp is removed during the exam — common, and it can change how a screening visit is billed. |
$389 – $13,446 | $1,509 | 28 |
Prices are facility fees from each hospital's federally required disclosure. The gastroenterologist, anesthesia, and pathology (if tissue is sent to a lab) are usually billed separately — ask whether a quote is all-in.
The billing question to ask before you schedule
Most private insurance covers a routine screening colonoscopy as preventive care with no cost-sharing under federal preventive-care rules. But if a polyp is found and removed during that screening — which is common, and is the point of screening — parts of the visit can be billed under the polyp-removal code instead.
Two questions worth asking before the exam, and getting in writing:
- To your insurer: “If a polyp is found and removed during my screening colonoscopy, how will the visit be billed, and what will I owe?”
- To the hospital's billing office: “What is your cash price for each colonoscopy type, and does that include anesthesia and pathology?”
If you're paying cash, pick the type your doctor actually ordered from the table above and compare hospitals on its page — the spread between hospitals is far larger than the spread between types.
The setting question: hospital vs. surgery center
Colonoscopies are one of the procedures most often done outside a hospital, at ambulatory surgery centers. The prices on this page are hospital facility fees from hospitals' own disclosures — surgery centers publish under different rules, so we don't quote their prices here. What we do track is the centers themselves: Medicare quality data for surgery centers near you appears on each city's comparison page, alongside the hospital prices. If your doctor offers a choice of setting, it's worth asking for a price in each.
Paying cash vs. running it through insurance
At the hospitals we cover, a meaningful share of insurance-negotiated rates exceed the same hospital's own cash price for the same procedure — which matters for a colonoscopy if you're on a high-deductible plan and haven't met your deductible. The numbers and the caveats are in our insurance-vs-cash analysis.
Compare hospitals for your type
- Screening colonoscopy (average risk) — prices by hospital and city
- Screening colonoscopy (high risk) — prices by hospital and city
- Diagnostic colonoscopy — prices by hospital and city
- Colonoscopy with biopsy — prices by hospital and city
- Colonoscopy with polyp removal — prices by hospital and city
Facing an admission rather than a procedure? See what a hospital stay costs — charged vs. actually paid, from federal claims data.
Every number on this page is computed from the hospitals' own federally required price disclosures at the moment you loaded it — nothing is estimated or carried forward. Not medical advice: screening timing and which exam you need are questions for your doctor.