Cervical Spinal Fusion without Complications/mcc — what U.S. hospitals charge
MS-DRG 473 · Inpatient stay · 125 U.S. hospitals publish a price
Cheapest quarter
under $68,267
Typical charge
$90,560
Dearest quarter
over $146,553
Actually paid
$21,222
The middle U.S. hospital bills $90,560 for Cervical Spinal Fusion without Complications/mcc. The dearest hospitals charge about 3.8x what the cheapest do for the same coded work. Medicare actually paid about $21,222 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 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arkansas | 3 | $45,381 | $35,830 – $74,644 |
| Minnesota | 3 | $51,498 | $48,647 – $61,213 |
| Tennessee | 5 | $63,546 | $55,900 – $189,256 |
| Michigan | 6 | $68,910 | $43,318 – $90,735 |
| North Carolina | 3 | $69,451 | $51,893 – $100,694 |
| Texas | 14 | $80,823 | $61,705 – $336,953 |
| Illinois | 3 | $85,575 | $74,435 – $118,069 |
| Louisiana | 7 | $86,276 | $72,095 – $139,121 |
| Ohio | 3 | $86,405 | $68,267 – $92,919 |
| Arizona | 6 | $100,300 | $64,356 – $179,421 |
| Georgia | 6 | $112,949 | $69,642 – $158,570 |
| South Carolina | 3 | $115,647 | $61,836 – $162,583 |
| New York | 5 | $128,370 | $39,903 – $272,028 |
| Florida | 11 | $129,460 | $83,414 – $206,887 |
| Alabama | 6 | $131,428 | $38,567 – $233,451 |
| Indiana | 3 | $146,553 | $72,015 – $541,740 |
| California | 8 | $191,397 | $56,247 – $336,622 |
Where Cervical 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 |
|---|---|---|
|
Mercy Medical Center Inc
Baltimore, MD |
$25,323 | $21,866 |
|
Arkansas Surgical Hospital
No Little Rock, AR |
$35,830 | $15,337 |
|
Cape Cod Hospital
Hyannis, MA |
$37,076 | $27,977 |
|
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Boston, MA |
$38,305 | $29,256 |
|
Jack Hughston Memorial Hospital
Phenix City, AL |
$38,567 | $16,196 |
|
Crouse Hospital
Syracuse, NY |
$39,903 | $21,606 |
|
St. Patrick Hospital
Missoula, MT |
$42,213 | $18,888 |
|
Bronson Methodist Hospital
Kalamazoo, MI |
$43,318 | $21,428 |
|
Baxter Health
Mountain Home, AR |
$45,381 | $15,336 |
|
Johns Hopkins Hospital, The
Baltimore, MD |
$45,769 | $39,865 |
|
Ascension Providence Hospital, Southfield And Novi
Southfield, MI |
$47,853 | $20,344 |
|
Essentia Health St Mary's Medical Center
Duluth, MN |
$48,647 | $18,275 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
|
Pinnacle Hospital
Crown Point, IN |
$541,740 | $23,024 |
|
Medical City Plano
Plano, TX |
$336,953 | $22,584 |
|
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Los Angeles, CA |
$336,622 | $31,722 |
|
Scripps Green Hospital
La Jolla, CA |
$272,553 | $28,884 |
|
Nyu Langone Hospitals
New York, NY |
$272,028 | $42,185 |
|
University Of California Davis Medical Center
Sacramento, CA |
$254,842 | $37,297 |
|
Merit Health River Oaks
Flowood, MS |
$251,929 | $17,754 |
|
Grandview Medical Center
Birmingham, AL |
$233,451 | $16,109 |
|
John Muir Medical Center - Walnut Creek Campus
Walnut Creek, CA |
$217,396 | $26,507 |
|
Houston Methodist Hospital
Houston, TX |
$210,902 | $21,637 |
|
Hca Florida Fawcett Hospital
Port Charlotte, FL |
$206,887 | $16,308 |
|
Hca Florida North Florida Hospital
Gainesville, FL |
$195,172 | $20,452 |
Questions people ask
What do U.S. hospitals charge for Cervical Spinal Fusion without Complications/mcc?
Across 125 U.S. hospitals, the middle charge for Cervical Spinal Fusion without Complications/mcc is $90,560. Half of hospitals charge less than that and half charge more. The cheapest quarter charge under $68,267 and the dearest quarter over $146,553.
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 without Complications/mcc, the hospitals in the dearest tenth charge about 3.8x 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. $21,222 is roughly what Medicare actually paid per case, against an average charge of $110,526. 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 473: “CERVICAL 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.