Social Intelligence Labs · Price Transparency

What a hospital actually charges

Federal rules make every U.S. hospital post its prices: the cash rate and the rate each insurer negotiated. Pick a procedure, type your ZIP, and see who is cheapest near you and how far the price moves across town.

Procedure

ZIP code

CPT 70551 · Outpatient · 45 procedures

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Showing 12 hospitals near 80202 (Denver, CO). Nearest is 1 mi away.

Brain MRI (no contrast) costs $250 at UNM Hospital and $925 at Rose Medical — a short drive apart.

Brain MRI (no contrast) · nearest hospitals

3.7×

price spread

$250

UNM Hospital

cheapest near you

$925

Rose Medical

most expensive

$250cheapest near you

$575local median

$925most expensive

$575national medianest.

Hospitals near 80202 run right at the national median, and choosing the cheapest saves $675 over the priciest in town.

Cheapest to most expensive near you

best price per hospital · 12 ranked

UNM Hospital$2501.0×

Denver Health$3251.3×

Cheyenne Regional$4501.8×

Presbyterian ABQ$5252.1×

U of Utah Hospital$5502.2×

Wesley Medical$5502.2×

Saint Joseph$6002.4×

Via Christi St. Francis$6002.4×

Swedish Medical$7753.1×

UCHealth Anschutz$7753.1×

Intermountain Med$8003.2×

Rose Medical$9253.7×

The dashed line is the national median ($575). Bars left of it beat the country; bars to the right are paying a premium for the same brain mri (no contrast).

What each price means

median across sampled hospitals

GROSSchargemaster sticker

$1,525

CASHself-pay · 46% of gross

$700

NEGOTIATEDtypical commercial · 50% of gross

$763

MEDICAREMedicare FFS

$325

Almost nobody pays the gross charge. Brain MRI (no contrast) lands at the cash or negotiated rate, both a fraction of the sticker. Medicare sits below either.

Price distribution

best price per hospital (12 shown)

The amber bar is the cheapest band. Most hospitals sit above the floor, and the few on the right are why the same procedure can cost a multiple more a short drive away.

Every hospital

cash vs best commercial negotiated vs sticker · sortable

Denver HealthDenver Health · Denver, CO1$325$425UnitedHealthcare$1,025$325

Saint JosephIntermountain · Denver, CO1$725$600Cigna$1,400$600

Rose MedicalHealthONE · Denver, CO3$1,325$925Blue Cross Blue Shield$2,325$925

Swedish MedicalHealthONE · Englewood, CO6$1,000$775Cigna$1,800$775

UCHealth AnschutzUCHealth · Aurora, CO8$1,125$775Cigna$2,100$775

Cheyenne RegionalCheyenne Regional · Cheyenne, WY97$650$450Cigna$1,150$450

Presbyterian ABQPresbyterian Healthcare · Albuquerque, NM334$750$525Aetna$1,400$525

UNM HospitalUNM Health · Albuquerque, NM334$250$325Aetna$800$250

U of Utah HospitalUniversity of Utah Health · Salt Lake City, UT368$550$675Aetna$1,775$550

Intermountain MedIntermountain Health · Murray, UT370$1,125$800UnitedHealthcare$1,950$800

Via Christi St. FrancisAscension · Wichita, KS437$825$600Blue Cross Blue Shield$1,375$600

Wesley MedicalHCA Healthcare · Wichita, KS438$550$975Aetna$1,800$550

Biggest price spreads by procedure

cheapest vs priciest, all sampled hospitals

Cash vs insured

median self-pay price vs typical negotiated rate

MRI brain — without contrast

CASH$700

INSURED$763

cash beats insurance at 41% of these hospitals

MRI brain — with & without contrast

CASH$1,250

INSURED$1,300

cash beats insurance at 46% of these hospitals

MRI knee — without contrast

CASH$650

INSURED$675

cash beats insurance at 38% of these hospitals

MRI shoulder — without contrast

CASH$650

INSURED$688

cash beats insurance at 39% of these hospitals

MRI lumbar spine — without contrast

CASH$725

INSURED$738

cash beats insurance at 41% of these hospitals

MRI cervical spine — without contrast

CASH$700

INSURED$738

cash beats insurance at 40% of these hospitals

CT head — without contrast

CASH$530

INSURED$548

cash beats insurance at 41% of these hospitals

CT chest — with contrast

CASH$825

INSURED$875

cash beats insurance at 44% of these hospitals

CT abdomen & pelvis — with contrast

CASH$900

INSURED$938

cash beats insurance at 43% of these hospitals

CT angiogram — coronary

CASH$1,225

INSURED$1,313

cash beats insurance at 44% of these hospitals

X-ray chest — 2 views

CASH$145

INSURED$150

cash beats insurance at 40% of these hospitals

X-ray knee — 3 views

CASH$165

INSURED$173

cash beats insurance at 41% of these hospitals

Ultrasound — abdomen, complete

CASH$270

INSURED$275

cash beats insurance at 39% of these hospitals

Ultrasound — pregnancy, after 1st trimester

CASH$235

INSURED$235

cash beats insurance at 39% of these hospitals

Mammogram — screening

CASH$185

INSURED$185

cash beats insurance at 41% of these hospitals

Mammogram — diagnostic

CASH$245

INSURED$255

cash beats insurance at 39% of these hospitals

Bone-density scan — DEXA

CASH$155

INSURED$163

cash beats insurance at 38% of these hospitals

EKG — 12-lead with interpretation

CASH$105

INSURED$105

cash beats insurance at 39% of these hospitals

Echocardiogram — complete with Doppler

CASH$775

INSURED$800

cash beats insurance at 41% of these hospitals

Cardiac stress test — nuclear

CASH$1,600

INSURED$1,513

cash beats insurance at 40% of these hospitals

Sleep study — in-lab polysomnography

CASH$1,450

INSURED$1,463

cash beats insurance at 40% of these hospitals

Colonoscopy — screening

CASH$1,300

INSURED$1,300

cash beats insurance at 41% of these hospitals

Colonoscopy — diagnostic

CASH$1,350

INSURED$1,400

cash beats insurance at 41% of these hospitals

Upper endoscopy — diagnostic (EGD)

CASH$1,175

INSURED$1,250

cash beats insurance at 45% of these hospitals

Lab — complete blood count (CBC)

CASH$40

INSURED$40

cash beats insurance at 36% of these hospitals

Lab — comprehensive metabolic panel

CASH$55

INSURED$55

cash beats insurance at 35% of these hospitals

Lab — lipid panel

CASH$50

INSURED$50

cash beats insurance at 38% of these hospitals

Lab — hemoglobin A1c

CASH$35

INSURED$38

cash beats insurance at 39% of these hospitals

Cataract surgery — one eye, with lens

CASH$2,400

INSURED$2,438

cash beats insurance at 34% of these hospitals

Carpal tunnel release — surgical

CASH$2,625

INSURED$2,825

cash beats insurance at 46% of these hospitals

Knee arthroscopy — meniscus repair

CASH$3,975

INSURED$4,225

cash beats insurance at 40% of these hospitals

Tonsillectomy — under age 12

CASH$3,150

INSURED$3,188

cash beats insurance at 36% of these hospitals

Knee replacement — total

CASH$22,150

INSURED$22,075

cash beats insurance at 40% of these hospitals

Hip replacement — total

CASH$22,150

INSURED$22,825

cash beats insurance at 39% of these hospitals

Spinal fusion — lumbar

CASH$34,550

INSURED$36,175

cash beats insurance at 43% of these hospitals

Appendectomy — laparoscopic

CASH$10,150

INSURED$10,450

cash beats insurance at 43% of these hospitals

Gallbladder removal — laparoscopic

CASH$11,750

INSURED$12,200

cash beats insurance at 44% of these hospitals

Coronary bypass — CABG

CASH$62,650

INSURED$62,650

cash beats insurance at 37% of these hospitals

Childbirth — vaginal delivery

CASH$4,925

INSURED$5,100

cash beats insurance at 43% of these hospitals

Childbirth — cesarean section

CASH$7,550

INSURED$7,925

cash beats insurance at 44% of these hospitals

ER visit — low complexity (level 2)

CASH$370

INSURED$363

cash beats insurance at 34% of these hospitals

ER visit — moderate complexity (level 4)

CASH$900

INSURED$888

cash beats insurance at 34% of these hospitals

ER visit — high complexity (level 5)

CASH$1,475

INSURED$1,513

cash beats insurance at 43% of these hospitals

Urgent care — established patient visit

CASH$115

INSURED$128

cash beats insurance at 41% of these hospitals

Physical therapy — therapeutic exercise (per visit)

CASH$85

INSURED$93

cash beats insurance at 45% of these hospitals

How this works

read before you trust a number

Coverage

181 real hospitals across 74 metros in 51 states and DC. Any 5-digit U.S. ZIP resolves through its 3-digit region to a coordinate, then we rank the closest hospitals by distance. A valid ZIP never returns nothing.

The four prices

Each line carries a gross (chargemaster) charge, a discounted cash price, payer-specific negotiated rates, and Medicare. Cash and negotiated rates discount off the gross independently, which is why a hospital's cash price can land below some insurance rates.

Where the numbers come from

Prices are generated inside the public ranges these procedures show in real machine-readable files, scaled by each hospital's ownership and a stable per-site factor. They are a realistic sample, not a live feed. Confirm with the hospital before you act.

Swapping in live data

The loader returns a typed dataset. A real pipeline reads normalized files (or CMS Medicare provider-charge data) at request time on the server and returns the same shape, with no change to this page.