Itemized  ·  Procedures  ·  Cataract surgery, one eye

Cataract surgery, one eye cost.

What cataract surgery, one eye costs at 106 US hospitals across 52 metros, pulled from the federally-mandated machine-readable files each hospital is required to publish. Cash-pay range: $284 to $59,219 (209× spread). CPT code 66984.

Cheapest cash price
$284
Jefferson Regional Medical Center
Jefferson Hills, PA
vs.
Most expensive cash price
$59,219
Seattle Children's Hospital
Seattle, WA

Top 5 cheapest hospitals for cataract surgery.

# Hospital Cash price
1
Jefferson Regional Medical Center
Jefferson Hills, PA
 $284 to $794
2
Allegheny General Hospital
Pittsburgh, PA
 $359 to $1,003
3
Cedars-Sinai Marina del Rey Hospital
Marina del Rey, CA
 $656 to $18,448
4
John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital
Chicago, IL
 $855 to $4,127
5
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville, TN
 $1,551

See all 106 hospitals, your insurance, your zip.

Pick your insurance plan, enter your zip, see your estimated out-of-pocket cost. Same data, your view.

Compare cataract surgery prices →

What is cataract surgery, one eye?

Cataract surgery, one eye.

Removal of the clouded natural lens and replacement with a synthetic intraocular lens. The most-performed surgery in the U.S. Outpatient, usually under 30 minutes; same-day recovery.

Medicare covers cataract surgery with a basic lens. Premium lenses (toric for astigmatism, multifocal for reading vision) are typically out-of-pocket additions. The published rate covers the basic procedure; premium-lens upgrades aren't reflected.

Why prices vary this much.

The same cataract surgery, one eye on the same equipment can cost 209 times more at one hospital than another. Three reasons.

Chargemasters are arbitrary. The "sticker price" hospitals publish was never designed for consumers. It's a starting number for negotiation with insurance companies, with adjustments stacked on top for decades. Almost no one pays the chargemaster.

Negotiated rates are confidential bilateral contracts. Each insurance company negotiates its own rate with each hospital. Aetna at Hospital A might pay 60% of what Cigna pays at the same hospital for the same code. You see one rate; the hospital sees dozens.

Cash pay is a separate thing entirely. Many hospitals offer a "self-pay" or "cash-pay" rate that's dramatically cheaper than what they'd bill insurance, especially for elective imaging. If you have a high-deductible plan, paying cash and filing for reimbursement (or just eating the cost) can be the cheapest path.

What to ask the hospital before you book.

The four questions that surface hidden costs:

1. "Is the price you're quoting me the all-in price, or just the facility fee?" Hospitals often quote the facility fee and bill the radiologist or anesthesiologist separately on a different invoice.

2. "What's the cash-pay rate vs the rate you'd bill my insurance?" Don't assume insurance is cheaper. For high-deductible plans, cash pay is often the better deal.

3. "If I'm uninsured, do you have a financial assistance policy I qualify for?" Federally-tax-exempt hospitals are required to have one, and it can knock 50-100% off the bill for households under specific income thresholds.

4. "If I get a bill and the price is different than what was quoted, what's your dispute process?" Get the answer before you book, in writing if possible. If the bill comes in higher than the quote, you have leverage.

Common questions.

How much does cataract surgery, one eye cost in 2026?+
Cash-pay prices for cataract surgery, one eye (CPT 66984) range from $284 to $59,219 across the 106 hospitals in our dataset. The price varies by hospital, payer, and whether you pay cash or use insurance. Cash-pay rates are often dramatically cheaper than the rate insurance would pay at the same hospital, which is one of the more uncomfortable truths in this data.
Why does cataract surgery, one eye cost so much more at some hospitals than others?+
Three reasons. First, hospital chargemasters (the "sticker price") are largely arbitrary and were never designed for consumers. Second, hospitals in expensive real-estate markets (Manhattan, San Francisco, Boston) carry higher facility overhead. Third, the negotiated rate each insurance company pays is the result of confidential bilateral contracts, so the same procedure on the same machine can cost 5x more depending on which insurance card you hand over.
Is the cash price always the cheapest option?+
Not always, but more often than you'd expect. For cataract surgery, one eye in our dataset, the cash price beats the negotiated insurance rate at many hospitals, especially for patients with high-deductible plans. Always ask the hospital for both numbers before you decide which to use. If you have a low-deductible plan and the procedure is in-network, insurance is usually still cheaper.
What does the published price include?+
For cataract surgery, one eye (CPT 66984), the published rate generally includes the procedure itself plus the immediately associated facility and professional fees as the hospital has assigned them. It does NOT include separate physician consultations, follow-up visits, prescriptions, or any complications that require additional treatment. Always ask: "Is this the all-in price, or just the facility fee?"
Where does this data come from?+
Federal law (45 CFR 180.50, the Hospital Price Transparency Rule) requires every US hospital to publish a machine-readable file with their negotiated rates and cash prices. We download those files directly from each hospital, parse them, and present them in a comparable format. No surveys, no estimates, no scraped review sites. The data is current as of the latest publication date for each hospital.