Cardiac Valve and Other Major Cardiothoracic Procedures without Cardiac Catheterization — what U.S. hospitals charge
MS-DRG 221 · Inpatient stay · 12 U.S. hospitals publish a price
Cheapest quarter
under $107,634
Typical charge
$171,348
Dearest quarter
over $308,994
Actually paid
$41,884
The middle U.S. hospital bills $171,348 for Cardiac Valve and Other Major Cardiothoracic Procedures without Cardiac Catheterization. The dearest hospitals charge about 3.7x what the cheapest do for the same coded work. Medicare actually paid about $41,884 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 without Cardiac Catheterization is charged least
Hospitals that performed it at least eleven times, so a single case cannot set the figure.
| Hospital | Charged | Actually paid |
|---|---|---|
|
Johns Hopkins Hospital, The
Baltimore, MD |
$56,695 | $49,927 |
|
Arkansas Heart Hospital, Llc
Little Rock, AR |
$96,213 | $28,662 |
|
Sanford Medical Center Fargo
Fargo, ND |
$102,443 | $41,071 |
|
Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital
Lebanon, NH |
$109,365 | $49,645 |
|
Upmc Pinnacle Hospitals
Harrisburg, PA |
$150,046 | $36,936 |
|
Mercyone Des Moines Medical Center
Des Moines, IA |
$163,142 | $32,570 |
|
Ecu Health Medical Center
Greenville, NC |
$179,555 | $46,345 |
|
Baptist Health Louisville
Louisville, KY |
$279,329 | $34,758 |
|
Sarasota Memorial Hospital
Sarasota, FL |
$296,670 | $40,542 |
|
Honorhealth Scottsdale Shea Medical Center
Scottsdale, AZ |
$345,968 | $50,263 |
|
Baptist Health Paducah
Paducah, KY |
$355,703 | $36,978 |
|
Hospital Of Univ Of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA |
$358,563 | $54,905 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
|
Hospital Of Univ Of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA |
$358,563 | $54,905 |
|
Baptist Health Paducah
Paducah, KY |
$355,703 | $36,978 |
|
Honorhealth Scottsdale Shea Medical Center
Scottsdale, AZ |
$345,968 | $50,263 |
|
Sarasota Memorial Hospital
Sarasota, FL |
$296,670 | $40,542 |
|
Baptist Health Louisville
Louisville, KY |
$279,329 | $34,758 |
|
Ecu Health Medical Center
Greenville, NC |
$179,555 | $46,345 |
|
Mercyone Des Moines Medical Center
Des Moines, IA |
$163,142 | $32,570 |
|
Upmc Pinnacle Hospitals
Harrisburg, PA |
$150,046 | $36,936 |
|
Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital
Lebanon, NH |
$109,365 | $49,645 |
|
Sanford Medical Center Fargo
Fargo, ND |
$102,443 | $41,071 |
|
Arkansas Heart Hospital, Llc
Little Rock, AR |
$96,213 | $28,662 |
|
Johns Hopkins Hospital, The
Baltimore, MD |
$56,695 | $49,927 |
Questions people ask
What do U.S. hospitals charge for Cardiac Valve and Other Major Cardiothoracic Procedures without Cardiac Catheterization?
Across 12 U.S. hospitals, the middle charge for Cardiac Valve and Other Major Cardiothoracic Procedures without Cardiac Catheterization is $171,348. Half of hospitals charge less than that and half charge more. The cheapest quarter charge under $107,634 and the dearest quarter over $308,994.
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 without Cardiac Catheterization, the hospitals in the dearest tenth charge about 3.7x 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. $41,884 is roughly what Medicare actually paid per case, against an average charge of $216,204. 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 221: “CARDIAC VALVE AND OTHER MAJOR CARDIOTHORACIC PROCEDURES WITHOUT CARDIAC CATHETERIZATION”. 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.