Cheapest hospitals in Birmingham, AL without insurance
Of 9 hospitals in the Birmingham, AL area we can compare, UAB Medical West (Bessemer) has the lowest cash prices: its typical outpatient price is 47% below the Alabama median across 470 procedures. The ranking compares each hospital's own cash price with the median of all hospitals in its state, procedure by procedure.
Collected Nov 11, 2026 Hospitals with at least 30 comparable procedures
| Hospital | Typical price vs state | Below median | Above median |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. UAB Medical West Bessemer | 47% below | 327 of 470 | 141 of 470 |
| 2. The Children's Hospital of Alabama Birmingham | 25% below | 161 of 237 | 64 of 237 |
| 3. The Children's Hospital of Alabama – Benjamin Russell Hospital Birmingham | 20% below | 233 of 369 | 121 of 369 |
| 4. Bibb Medical Center Centreville | at median | 137 of 294 | 150 of 294 |
| 5. Grandview Medical Center Birmingham | 8% above | 190 of 435 | 241 of 435 |
| 6. Baptist Health Princeton Hospital Birmingham | 510% above | 6 of 325 | 317 of 325 |
| 7. Baptist Health Shelby Hospital Alabaster | 510% above | 6 of 325 | 317 of 325 |
| 8. Baptist Health Walker Hospital Jasper | 510% above | 6 of 325 | 317 of 325 |
| 9. Baptist Health Brookwood Hospital Birmingham | 610% above | 0 of 313 | 313 of 313 |
Hospital The hospital that published the price, its city and the line exactly as written in its price file.
Typical price The median of this hospital's cash prices divided by the state median for the same codes: below means cheaper than a typical hospital in the state.
Below median For how many of the compared procedures this hospital is cheaper than the state median.
Above median For how many of the compared procedures this hospital is more expensive than the state median.
Not in the ranking: St. Vincent’s Birmingham, St. Vincent’s Blount (Oneonta), St. Vincent’s Chilton (Clanton), St. Vincent’s East (Birmingham), St. Vincent’s St. Clair (Pell City), University of Alabama Hospital (Birmingham) — their price files list no cash price (all US hospitals without one).
How the ranking works
- For every procedure, we take the hospital's lowest outpatient cash price and compare it with the median of all hospitals in the same state that publish a cash price for the same code (only codes with at least three hospitals in the state).
- "Typical price" is the middle of those comparisons: half of the hospital's procedures are cheaper than that, half are dearer. One expensive surgery does not outweigh a hundred cheap lab tests, and the other way round.
- Hospitals with fewer than 30 comparable procedures are left out: with a handful of codes the place would be decided by chance.
- Prices far below every other hospital are worth a phone call: some price files list only part of a service (for example the facility fee without the doctor's fee), or a discount that depends on income.
- A low rank does not mean every price is low. Open the hospital to see the procedure you need, then ask its billing office for a Good Faith Estimate in writing.