Level 5 ER visit cost in Little Rock, AR
In Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR, 3 hospitals list a cash price for emergency room visit, level 5 of 5, high-complexity problem: from $690.00 to $2,035.22, with a median of $1,202.40. The lowest listed price is at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences — $512.40 less than the median here. Across Arkansas, the median is $700.00 at 15 hospitals.
Cash prices at 3 facilities for code 99285, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Sep 22, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Nov 21, 2025 and Nov 21, 2025.
Where each hospital's price falls
Each dot is one hospital's cash price on a scale from the lowest to the highest in Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list | File date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences lowest Little Rock, AR · (501) 686-5000 EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT VISIT FOR LIFE THREATENING OR FUNCTIONING SEVERITY | $690.00 | $1,150.00 | $413.11–$3,437.00 | 40% | — source file |
| Arkansas Heart Hospital Little Rock, AR · (501) 219-7000 99285 - Level 5 | $1,202.40 | $1,503.00 | $580.86–$1,346.00 | 20% | Nov 21, 2025 source file |
| University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Little Rock, AR · (501) 686-5000 EMERGENCY DEPT VISIT HI MDM | $1,434.00 | $2,390.00 | $413.11–$3,437.00 | 40% | — source file |
| Arkansas Childrens Hospital Little Rock, AR · (501) 364-1100 EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT VISIT FOR LIFE THREATENING OR FUNCTIONING SEVERITY | $2,035.22 | $2,261.36 | $243.27–$556.81 | 10% | — source file |
Outpatient: lowest $690.00, median $1,202.40, highest $2,035.22 — a 2.9× difference within the same market.
Cash or insurance?
At 2 of 3 hospitals that publish insurer rates for this code here, the cash price is below the highest rate a health plan has negotiated, and at none is it below every plan's rate. If you have insurance but have not met your deductible, you usually pay your plan's negotiated rate, which falls somewhere in the "Insurers pay" column. Paying cash can cost less, but a cash payment usually does not count toward your deductible. Ask the hospital for both numbers before you book.
What it is
This is the highest of five emergency department visit levels, used for a serious problem that needs complex evaluation and treatment, often with a hospital admission or transfer. The level is assigned after the visit: doctors pick it by the complexity of their medical decision making, and hospitals pick the facility level by the care and resources used, so a patient cannot choose it in advance.
What the price covers
The hospital price for this code is the facility fee for the ER visit. The emergency physician bills separately, and lab tests, imaging, medicines and procedures are added on top.
1 row held back from this comparison
It is priced below $1 or below a tenth of the national median for code 99285 ($1,499.40). Such a line is almost always a physician's fee billed separately, an assistant's share or a placeholder — a real charge, but not the price of the procedure itself.
| Arkansas Childrens Hospital Little Rock, AREMERGENCY DEPT VISIT HI MDM | $72.66 | file |