Cardiac Valve and Other Major Cardiothoracic Procedures with Cardiac Catheterization Wit — what U.S. hospitals charge
MS-DRG 217 · Inpatient stay · 15 U.S. hospitals publish a price
Cheapest quarter
under $218,451
Typical charge
$265,122
Dearest quarter
over $337,376
Actually paid
$69,680
The middle U.S. hospital bills $265,122 for Cardiac Valve and Other Major Cardiothoracic Procedures with Cardiac Catheterization Wit. The dearest hospitals charge about 3.0x what the cheapest do for the same coded work. Medicare actually paid about $69,680 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.
Where Cardiac Valve and Other Major Cardiothoracic Procedures with Cardiac Catheterization Wit is charged least
Hospitals that performed it at least eleven times, so a single case cannot set the figure.
| Hospital | Charged | Actually paid |
|---|---|---|
|
Medstar Union Memorial Hospital
Baltimore, MD |
$103,591 | $92,476 |
|
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Boston, MA |
$116,437 | $80,690 |
|
Mayo Clinic Hospital Rochester
Rochester, MN |
$198,779 | $85,455 |
|
Duke University Hospital
Durham, NC |
$212,964 | $69,058 |
|
Medstar Washington Hospital Center
Washington, DC |
$223,937 | $69,236 |
|
Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland, OH |
$232,408 | $60,676 |
|
Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital Plano
Plano, TX |
$245,052 | $46,460 |
|
Mount Sinai Hospital
New York, NY |
$265,122 | $93,462 |
|
University Of Alabama Hospital
Birmingham, AL |
$274,163 | $54,699 |
|
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
New Brunswick, NJ |
$282,856 | $90,595 |
|
Memorial Mission Hospital And Asheville Surgery Ce
Asheville, NC |
$319,083 | $54,611 |
|
Lovelace Medical Center
Albuquerque, NM |
$355,669 | $43,266 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
|
Memorial Medical Center
Las Cruces, NM |
$513,715 | $45,051 |
|
Adventhealth Orlando
Orlando, FL |
$493,239 | $85,772 |
|
Morristown Medical Center
Morristown, NJ |
$370,932 | $73,690 |
|
Lovelace Medical Center
Albuquerque, NM |
$355,669 | $43,266 |
|
Memorial Mission Hospital And Asheville Surgery Ce
Asheville, NC |
$319,083 | $54,611 |
|
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
New Brunswick, NJ |
$282,856 | $90,595 |
|
University Of Alabama Hospital
Birmingham, AL |
$274,163 | $54,699 |
|
Mount Sinai Hospital
New York, NY |
$265,122 | $93,462 |
|
Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital Plano
Plano, TX |
$245,052 | $46,460 |
|
Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland, OH |
$232,408 | $60,676 |
|
Medstar Washington Hospital Center
Washington, DC |
$223,937 | $69,236 |
|
Duke University Hospital
Durham, NC |
$212,964 | $69,058 |
Questions people ask
What do U.S. hospitals charge for Cardiac Valve and Other Major Cardiothoracic Procedures with Cardiac Catheterization Wit?
Across 15 U.S. hospitals, the middle charge for Cardiac Valve and Other Major Cardiothoracic Procedures with Cardiac Catheterization Wit is $265,122. Half of hospitals charge less than that and half charge more. The cheapest quarter charge under $218,451 and the dearest quarter over $337,376.
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 Cardiac Valve and Other Major Cardiothoracic Procedures with Cardiac Catheterization Wit, the hospitals in the dearest tenth charge about 3.0x 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. $69,680 is roughly what Medicare actually paid per case, against an average charge of $266,359. 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 217: “CARDIAC VALVE AND OTHER MAJOR CARDIOTHORACIC PROCEDURES WITH CARDIAC CATHETERIZATION WIT”. 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.