How the list is made
- We take every price for the common procedures on our site (imaging, lab tests, ER visits, office visits, common surgeries) in each hospital's current machine-readable file, where the file gives both a gross charge and a discounted cash price. A hospital is listed when at least 10 such prices exist and at least 90% of them have a cash price equal to the gross charge.
- Files we could not read in full, and files whose prices are clearly not prices, are not counted. Hospitals that publish no cash price at all are on a separate list.
- A cash price equal to the full charge does not prove that a hospital refuses discounts: many reduce bills for uninsured patients, give prompt-pay discounts or financial assistance based on income. It means a patient cannot see that discount in what the hospital publishes. To pay out of pocket, ask for a written Good Faith Estimate and the self-pay policy.
Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with a link to this page. The rest of our data: cash price report.