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.

CPT 70551 · Outpatient

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Showing 8 hospitals near 80202 (Denver, CO). Nearest is 1 mi away.

Brain MRI (no contrast) · nearest hospitals

3.0×

price spread

$175

UNM Hospital

cheapest near you

$525

UCHealth Anschutz

most expensive

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 (8 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, nearest first

cash price vs negotiated vs sticker

HospitalMilesCashBest insuredGross chargevs floor

Denver HealthDenver Health · Denver, CO1$325$250Medicare$1,025$250

Saint JosephIntermountain · Denver, CO1$725$300Medicare$1,400$300

Rose MedicalHealthONE · Denver, CO3$1,325$475Medicare$2,325$475

Swedish MedicalHealthONE · Englewood, CO6$1,000$450Medicare$1,800$450

UCHealth AnschutzUCHealth · Aurora, CO8$1,125$525Medicare$2,100$525

Cheyenne RegionalCheyenne Regional · Cheyenne, WY97$650$275Medicare$1,150$275

Presbyterian ABQPresbyterian Healthcare · Albuquerque, NM334$750$350Medicare$1,400$350

UNM HospitalUNM Health · Albuquerque, NM334$250$175Medicare$800$175

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 knee — without contrast

CASH$650

INSURED$675

cash beats insurance at 38% of these hospitals

MRI lumbar spine — without contrast

CASH$725

INSURED$738

cash beats insurance at 41% of these hospitals

CT head — without contrast

CASH$530

INSURED$548

cash beats insurance at 41% of these hospitals

CT abdomen & pelvis — with contrast

CASH$900

INSURED$938

cash beats insurance at 43% of these hospitals

X-ray chest — 2 views

CASH$145

INSURED$150

cash beats insurance at 40% of these hospitals

Mammogram — screening

CASH$185

INSURED$185

cash beats insurance at 41% of these hospitals

Ultrasound — abdomen, complete

CASH$270

INSURED$275

cash beats insurance at 39% of these hospitals

EKG — 12-lead with interpretation

CASH$105

INSURED$105

cash beats insurance at 39% of these hospitals

Colonoscopy — diagnostic

CASH$1,350

INSURED$1,400

cash beats insurance at 41% of these hospitals

Sleep study — in-lab polysomnography

CASH$1,450

INSURED$1,463

cash beats insurance at 40% of these hospitals

Physical therapy — therapeutic exercise (per visit)

CASH$85

INSURED$93

cash beats insurance at 45% of these hospitals

Cataract surgery — one eye, with lens

CASH$2,400

INSURED$2,438

cash beats insurance at 34% 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

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

Appendectomy — laparoscopic

CASH$10,150

INSURED$10,450

cash beats insurance at 43% 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.