Back and Neck Procedures Except Spinal Fusion without Complications/mcc — what U.S. hospitals charge
MS-DRG 520 · Inpatient stay · 56 U.S. hospitals publish a price
Cheapest quarter
under $49,898
Typical charge
$65,550
Dearest quarter
over $86,573
Actually paid
$14,475
The middle U.S. hospital bills $65,550 for Back and Neck Procedures Except Spinal Fusion without Complications/mcc. The dearest hospitals charge about 4.1x what the cheapest do for the same coded work. Medicare actually paid about $14,475 per case.
These are charges, not quotes. What you pay depends on your insurance and your own case. The figures matter because the charge is where an uninsured or out-of-network bill starts.
Back and Neck Procedures Except Spinal Fusion without Complications/mcc cost by state
The middle charge in each state where at least three hospitals publish a price, cheapest first.
| State | Hospitals | Typical charge | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 3 | $53,367 | $50,023 – $159,544 |
| North Carolina | 3 | $57,852 | $49,520 – $92,496 |
| Massachusetts | 3 | $66,486 | $35,962 – $88,052 |
| Pennsylvania | 5 | $76,555 | $58,908 – $105,238 |
| Florida | 5 | $78,148 | $64,584 – $92,986 |
| New York | 4 | $92,409 | $78,482 – $149,046 |
| California | 9 | $131,603 | $59,712 – $211,265 |
Where Back and Neck Procedures Except Spinal Fusion without Complications/mcc is charged least
Hospitals that performed it at least eleven times, so a single case cannot set the figure.
| Hospital | Charged | Actually paid |
|---|---|---|
|
Arkansas Surgical Hospital
No Little Rock, AR |
$18,716 | $9,020 |
|
Rhode Island Hospital
Providence, RI |
$21,750 | $14,931 |
|
Kansas Spine & Specialty Hospital, Llc
Wichita, KS |
$24,224 | $8,952 |
|
Johns Hopkins Hospital, The
Baltimore, MD |
$25,152 | $22,155 |
|
Billings Clinic Hospital
Billings, MT |
$29,130 | $11,552 |
|
Christiana Hospital
Newark, DE |
$32,771 | $13,459 |
|
Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, Burlington
Burlington, MA |
$35,962 | $17,059 |
|
Deaconess Hospital Inc
Evansville, IN |
$36,114 | $11,301 |
|
Tucson Medical Center
Tucson, AZ |
$40,263 | $11,840 |
|
Virginia Hospital Center
Arlington, VA |
$41,735 | $11,239 |
|
Ascension Providence Hospital, Southfield And Novi
Southfield, MI |
$43,881 | $12,172 |
|
Abbott Northwestern Hospital
Minneapolis, MN |
$45,928 | $11,436 |
Where it is charged most
Hospitals that performed it at least eleven times, so a single case cannot set the figure.
| Hospital | Charged | Actually paid |
|---|---|---|
|
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Los Angeles, CA |
$211,265 | $17,826 |
|
John Muir Medical Center - Walnut Creek Campus
Walnut Creek, CA |
$203,345 | $15,798 |
|
Stanford Health Care
Stanford, CA |
$186,522 | $22,963 |
|
Scripps Green Hospital
La Jolla, CA |
$170,802 | $18,792 |
|
Medical City Fort Worth
Fort Worth, TX |
$159,544 | $15,833 |
|
Nyu Langone Hospitals
New York, NY |
$149,046 | $19,279 |
|
Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla
La Jolla, CA |
$131,603 | $13,822 |
|
Honorhealth Scottsdale Osborn Medical Center
Scottsdale, AZ |
$110,925 | $11,453 |
|
Hospital Of Univ Of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA |
$105,238 | $17,228 |
|
New York-Presbyterian Hospital
New York, NY |
$99,263 | $23,872 |
|
Adventhealth Orlando
Orlando, FL |
$92,986 | $11,543 |
|
Memorial Mission Hospital And Asheville Surgery Ce
Asheville, NC |
$92,496 | $11,317 |
Questions people ask
What do U.S. hospitals charge for Back and Neck Procedures Except Spinal Fusion without Complications/mcc?
Across 56 U.S. hospitals, the middle charge for Back and Neck Procedures Except Spinal Fusion without Complications/mcc is $65,550. Half of hospitals charge less than that and half charge more. The cheapest quarter charge under $49,898 and the dearest quarter over $86,573.
Why do hospitals charge such different amounts for the same procedure?
Because a hospital charge is a list price it sets itself, not a regulated rate. For Back and Neck Procedures Except Spinal Fusion without Complications/mcc, the hospitals in the dearest tenth charge about 4.1x what the cheapest tenth charge for the same coded work. Insurers negotiate their own rates from those lists, which is why the charge and what is actually paid can be very far apart.
Is that what I would actually pay?
No. $14,475 is roughly what Medicare actually paid per case, against an average charge of $79,349. If you have insurance, your plan pays a negotiated rate and you pay your deductible and coinsurance. If you are uninsured or out of network, the hospital's charge is where your bill starts — which is why the gap matters. Ask for a written good-faith estimate before treatment.
What this code covers
CMS records this work as MS-DRG 520: “BACK AND NECK PROCEDURES EXCEPT SPINAL FUSION WITHOUT CC/MCC”. A DRG covers a whole inpatient stay rather than a single item, so the charge includes the room, the procedure and the care around it. Codes that mention complications carry a different, usually higher price.