Laser Treatment for Skin Cost
Excimer lsr psriasis<250sqcm
$137.95In-office total2026 Medicare, nationalUnder 2026 Medicare rates, laser treatment for skin in a doctor's office costs about $138 nationally, with no separate facility fee. In a facility the total is up to about $246 at a hospital outpatient department, because the facility is paid its own rate on top of the physician. A ZIP code adjusts every figure to your area.
- ✓Your ZIP's wage-adjusted hospital and surgery center rates
- ✓Five nearby hospitals by name, with CMS star ratings
- ✓The add-on codes that typically land on the bill
- ✓A word-for-word script for asking for a good-faith estimate
- ✓A private link you can reopen and share
- ✓Everything in the Premium report
- ✓15 nearby hospitals instead of five
- ✓Filled good-faith-estimate request letter
- ✓Bill-negotiation letter
- ✓Printable PDF download
National Medicare physician rate (2026)
What it costs in a hospital or surgery center
In a doctor’s office, the office rate above is the whole Medicare payment. When the same procedure is done in a hospital or surgery center, the facility bills its own fee on top of the physician, which is what these totals show. They are 2026 national Medicare amounts.
Medicare may pay the facility separately for this code or package it into another service on the same day, so treat the facility share as an upper bound. Medicare allowed amounts are not what an uninsured patient is charged, and not a quote. Private plans typically allow more.
Get the rate for your ZIP
CMS adjusts this CPT by locality. A five-digit ZIP is enough: no account, no insurance card.
What laser treatment for skin costs at hospitals near you
Everything above is a national average. The hospital you pick in your area moves the bill more than anything else you control.
Rates for your ZIP, 5 named hospitals with CMS ratings, the add-on codes, and the scheduler script.
For example 90001.
One-off payment, no account and no subscription. You get a private link and an email. No medical records and no insurance card, ever.
What these numbers are
Every figure on this page is a 2026 Medicare allowed amount: the physician line comes from the Physician Fee Schedule adjusted by geographic practice-cost indices, and the facility totals come from the CMS hospital outpatient (OPPS) and ambulatory surgery center rates. None of them is a hospital chargemaster price, your insurer's contracted rate, or a quote. Anesthesia, pathology, imaging reads and follow-up care are billed under their own codes when they apply, and an inpatient stay is paid a different way again. For this code the office and hospital physician lines differ by $96.87.
How CMS prices CPT 96920
Work is about 20% of the office total RVU; practice expense is about 79%. Localities with a high PE GPCI move this code more when practice expense is a large share.
Office vs hospital for this code
Office (non-facility) physician rate: $137.95. Hospital (facility) physician rate: $41.08.
Medicare patients typically owe 20% of the allowed amount after the Part B deductible, about $28 for the office physician fee, before any Medigap coverage. That coinsurance does not include a hospital facility fee.
Labeled private-plan and cash ranges on this page are arithmetic multiples of Medicare, not negotiated quotes. Ask the billing office for the CPT code, the site of service, and a good-faith estimate.
Laser Treatment for Skin cost by state
2026 Medicare office rate for CPT 96920, averaged across each state's localities. Open a state for its locality table and full cost breakdown.
What Is Laser Treatment for Skin?
This is laser treatment, typically with an excimer laser, for inflammatory skin disease such as psoriasis or vitiligo covering a total area under 250 square centimeters, roughly the size of a hand or two. The laser delivers targeted ultraviolet light only to affected patches, sparing normal skin and allowing stronger dosing than whole-body light booths. Each session takes 10 to 20 minutes with a mild sunburn-like sensation, and a course involves two or three sessions weekly for several weeks.
What Affects the Cost
- –This is inherently a multi-session therapy, often 12 to 30 treatments per course, so the per-session price multiplied by the protocol defines the real cost.
- –Cost sharing applies per session on most plans, so even modest copays accumulate across a full course.
- –Larger treatment areas bill under higher-tier codes (96921, 96922), so the extent of your psoriasis changes the code and price.
- –Maintenance sessions after clearance, if needed, extend the spending beyond the initial course.
- –Alternatives compete on cost: topical treatments are cheaper, while biologic drugs are far more expensive, positioning laser in the middle of psoriasis economics.
How It Is Billed
CPT 96920 covers one laser session for a total treated area under 250 square centimeters; bigger areas move to companion codes at higher rates, and each visit bills separately, so a course generates a long series of identical claims. An office visit is not usually billable alongside a routine laser session unless a distinct evaluation occurred. Photography or phototherapy setup fees are not standard billable extras with this code.
Insurance & Coverage Notes
Coverage for excimer laser in psoriasis is common but frequently conditioned: many plans require documented failure of topical therapy first, and some cap the number of covered sessions per course or per year, with continued treatment requiring documented improvement. Vitiligo coverage varies more, as some plans historically labeled it cosmetic, a stance that has been retreating. Prior authorization for the course is typical, so confirm both approval and the session cap before starting.
Questions to Ask Before Booking
- 1.How many sessions does my treatment plan involve, and what is my cost per session?
- 2.Has prior authorization been approved, and for how many sessions?
- 3.What happens to coverage if I need maintenance treatments after clearing?
- 4.Have we documented that topicals failed, since my insurer may require that first?
- 5.How does the total course cost compare with my other treatment options?
Laser Treatment for Skin (CPT 96920): questions
Under 2026 Medicare rates, laser treatment for skin in a doctor's office costs about $138 nationally, with no separate facility fee. In a facility the total is up to about $246 at a hospital outpatient department, because the facility is paid its own rate on top of the physician. A ZIP code adjusts every figure to your area.
Medicare uses a different practice-expense RVU in a facility. For CPT 96920 that produces an office rate of $137.95 and a hospital physician rate of $41.08 (a $96.87 gap). The hospital’s own facility charge is extra and often larger than this entire physician line.
This is laser treatment, typically with an excimer laser, for inflammatory skin disease such as psoriasis or vitiligo covering a total area under 250 square centimeters, roughly the size of a hand or two. The laser delivers targeted ultraviolet light only to affected patches, sparing normal skin and allowing stronger dosing than whole-body light booths. Each session takes 10 to 20 minutes with a mild sunburn-like sensation, and a course involves two or three sessions weekly for several weeks. CMS bills it as “Excimer lsr psriasis<250sqcm.”
In a doctor's office, $137.95 is Medicare's whole national payment: it covers the physician, the room and the supplies, with no separate facility fee. In a hospital outpatient department the physician is paid about $41.08 and the hospital adds its own facility payment, bringing the total to up to about $246. Services billed under other codes, such as lab work, are extra. Private-plan allowed amounts are often higher than Medicare; your deductible and coinsurance still apply.
For cash-pay surgery shopping, use this CPT as the Medicare floor when you compare written quotes. How cash-price shopping works.