This is an updated version of an article originally posted in December 2012.
How much does a vasectomy cost? You can get one for $300 or $400 — or you could pay thousands.
There are different kinds of vasectomies, and prices can vary widely. About 500,000 men get vasectomies each year in the United States.
The lowest-cost option we found in New York, Yonkers Urology on Broadway in Yonkers, NY, offers a traditional vasectomy for $270 that does not include the cost of labs or their $150 consultation fee.
The highest-cost options we found in the area were at 15 hospitals affiliated with New York Presbyterian with locations in Manhattan as well as outer boroughs and suburbs. At New York-Presbyterian’s Weill Cornell Medical Center on the Upper East Side charges $17,088.90 for a traditional vasectomy.
In the Dallas, Texas area, the prices ranged from around $475 to more than $6,000, and much much higher in hospitals.
(In case you’re curious, the cost of sterilization for a woman is about six times the cost of a vasectomy, according to Planned Parenthood.)
‘Traditional’ vasectomy cost vs. ‘no needle, no scalpel’ vasectomy cost
There are two kinds of vasectomies, each with its own procedure code. A “traditional vasectomy” is an open-style procedure using a direct incision on the side of the scrotum, after anesthesia is injected to the surrounding area. The physician may cauterize, cut or tie off the vas deferens (the duct that conveys sperm from the testicle to the urethra), or block it with clips or implants. The CPT code is 55250.
Then there’s the “no needle, no scalpel” vasectomy, where the physician uses a high-pressure jet injector to deliver the anesthesia. Special instruments are then used to punch a tiny hole in the scrotum rather than make a traditional incision, allowing access to cut or tie off the vas deferens in the same way as with a traditional vasectomy. The CPT code is 55450.
Both types of vasectomies are almost always outpatient, and done under a local anesthetic as opposed to general anesthesia. They can be performed in a physician’s office, an outpatient clinic, or a same-day surgery center.
One provider we talked to in Great Neck, N.Y., performs “no scalpel” vasectomies. His office reports that an overwhelming majority of phone calls, about 80 percent, come from men inquiring about vasectomies as opposed to women. He has performed more than 1,000 no-scalpel vasectomies over the past three decades.
Factors for deciding on a vasectomy
It’s a fairly even split between providers who offer traditional versus no-needle, no-scalpel vasectomies. So before making an appointment, it makes sense to consider whether you have a preference towards one procedure type or another.
One factor involves procedure time: an incision vasectomy takes about 20 to 30 minutes, while the no-incision method takes less time. Recovery time is the same between the two: a day or two to rest, with no strenuous work or exercise for about a week.
That means couch time. Depending on where you live you’ll even see vasectomy special promotions coming up in time for March Madness basketball tournaments. An Austin, Texas, urology practice promotes “Vas Madness”: “After your vasectomy, sit back and watch sports all day – college hoops in March…the pro golf tourney in April – doctors orders!” (We even found a place that gives a free pizza to the lucky guy, last time we wrote about this.)
Once you’re up off the couch, be careful about channeling your inner Barry White. Pregnancy is still possible after a vasectomy, and you should be sure to get follow-up sperm counts, in order to confirm complete sterility. One doctor advises patients that complete sterility usually takes 2-4 months, or 12 to 24 ejaculations. All patients are told to use contraception until the absence of sperm is confirmed by two consecutive semen analyses. Each follow-up analysis costs $75, though some practices include this in a package price.
Vasectomies are generally considered irreversible, but a vasovasostomy reconnects the tubes (vas deferens) cut during a vasectomy. Success rates range between 85 and 98 percent, but the procedure isn’t cheap, and it takes about 4 hours. Douglas G. Stein, a Tampa-based urologist, charges 10 times as much for a vasovasostomy ($6,900) as for a vasectomy ($690). (He said he usually performs two vasectomy reversals per week, one on Tuesday morning and one on Thursday morning.)
Here’s the Planned Parenthood information page about vasectomies, which will tell you more.
