CostGrade

Cervical Spinal Fusion with Complications — what U.S. hospitals charge

MS-DRG 472 · Inpatient stay · 489 U.S. hospitals publish a price

Cheapest quarter

under $85,789

Typical charge

$119,533

Dearest quarter

over $170,285

Actually paid

$27,268

The middle U.S. hospital bills $119,533 for Cervical Spinal Fusion with Complications. The dearest hospitals charge about 3.6x what the cheapest do for the same coded work. Medicare actually paid about $27,268 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.

Cervical Spinal Fusion with Complications cost by state

The middle charge in each state where at least three hospitals publish a price, cheapest first.

State Hospitals Typical charge Range
Maryland 12 $52,041 $31,324 – $69,306
Arkansas 6 $68,527 $43,989 – $103,974
Massachusetts 13 $69,066 $45,420 – $135,560
Utah 5 $71,734 $65,616 – $75,360
Minnesota 8 $80,619 $67,313 – $129,958
Michigan 15 $83,023 $52,093 – $207,007
Nebraska 3 $83,078 $81,318 – $122,791
Missouri 12 $87,752 $57,173 – $128,792
Connecticut 3 $87,770 $81,287 – $99,430
Mississippi 3 $90,345 $58,507 – $273,727
Wisconsin 3 $92,873 $73,819 – $96,731
North Carolina 14 $94,510 $40,323 – $151,938
Tennessee 14 $96,126 $58,603 – $182,654
South Dakota 3 $96,265 $91,379 – $122,360
Idaho 5 $97,564 $69,499 – $144,340
Louisiana 7 $99,341 $78,608 – $208,243
Ohio 23 $103,534 $58,975 – $177,691
Oklahoma 9 $106,736 $82,272 – $327,559
Georgia 13 $107,216 $66,342 – $196,010
Oregon 6 $111,720 $81,407 – $151,645
Washington 9 $113,766 $92,730 – $173,723
Virginia 16 $114,091 $58,528 – $503,683
Iowa 4 $114,906 $76,219 – $131,117
Illinois 18 $116,033 $44,457 – $235,130
Alabama 9 $119,533 $31,339 – $307,186
Kansas 6 $120,375 $71,141 – $260,213
Pennsylvania 20 $126,652 $72,490 – $227,651
South Carolina 17 $130,627 $64,069 – $271,614
West Virginia 3 $140,410 $94,724 – $143,055
New York 24 $140,979 $38,523 – $339,709
New Jersey 12 $143,844 $89,244 – $331,513
Texas 43 $144,100 $34,654 – $392,939
Kentucky 5 $151,788 $76,110 – $182,351
Indiana 9 $157,225 $105,815 – $270,689
Florida 39 $174,597 $76,647 – $312,314
California 36 $182,437 $44,383 – $576,956
Arizona 13 $188,525 $64,066 – $515,516
Colorado 12 $193,652 $107,313 – $311,883

Where Cervical Spinal Fusion with Complications is charged least

Hospitals that performed it at least eleven times, so a single case cannot set the figure.

Hospital Charged Actually paid
University Of Md St Joseph Medical Center

Towson, MD

$31,324 $28,033
Usa Health Hca Providence Hospital, Llc

Mobile, AL

$31,339 $18,793
Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center, Inc

Annapolis, MD

$32,792 $30,599
Kell West Regional Hospital

Wichita Falls, TX

$34,654 $18,559
Mercy Medical Center Inc

Baltimore, MD

$36,025 $31,279
Crouse Hospital

Syracuse, NY

$38,523 $26,424
Carolina East Medical Center

New Bern, NC

$40,323 $24,790
Adventist Healthcare Shady Grove Medical Center

Rockville, MD

$41,572 $36,541
Jack Hughston Memorial Hospital

Phenix City, AL

$41,773 $20,283
Springhill Medical Center

Mobile, AL

$43,839 $18,648
Arkansas Surgical Hospital

No Little Rock, AR

$43,989 $18,516
Fresno Surgical Hospital

Fresno, CA

$44,383 $27,031

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
Northbay Medical Center

Fairfield, CA

$576,956 $36,781
Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center

Thousand Oaks, CA

$521,620 $33,441
St Joseph's Hospital

Tucson, AZ

$515,516 $24,160
Henrico Doctors' Hospital

Richmond, VA

$503,683 $25,871
Cjw Medical Center

Richmond, VA

$488,551 $20,091
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Los Angeles, CA

$404,495 $36,355
Medical City Plano

Plano, TX

$392,939 $25,998
Medical City Fort Worth

Fort Worth, TX

$376,031 $24,469
Stanford Health Care

Stanford, CA

$355,360 $48,030
University Of California Davis Medical Center

Sacramento, CA

$343,383 $45,282
Westchester Medical Center

Valhalla, NY

$339,709 $34,433
Englewood Hospital And Medical Center

Englewood, NJ

$331,513 $30,208

Questions people ask

What do U.S. hospitals charge for Cervical Spinal Fusion with Complications?

Across 489 U.S. hospitals, the middle charge for Cervical Spinal Fusion with Complications is $119,533. Half of hospitals charge less than that and half charge more. The cheapest quarter charge under $85,789 and the dearest quarter over $170,285.

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 Cervical Spinal Fusion with Complications, the hospitals in the dearest tenth charge about 3.6x 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. $27,268 is roughly what Medicare actually paid per case, against an average charge of $142,770. 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 472: “CERVICAL SPINAL FUSION WITH CC”. 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.