Headaches without Major Complications — what U.S. hospitals charge
MS-DRG 103 · Inpatient stay · 110 U.S. hospitals publish a price
Cheapest quarter
under $32,622
Typical charge
$46,101
Dearest quarter
over $68,104
Actually paid
$9,348
The middle U.S. hospital bills $46,101 for Headaches without Major Complications. The dearest hospitals charge about 4.4x what the cheapest do for the same coded work. Medicare actually paid about $9,348 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.
Headaches without Major 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 | 3 | $13,675 | $9,111 – $16,448 |
| Massachusetts | 5 | $21,080 | $10,647 – $52,808 |
| Michigan | 4 | $28,322 | $20,871 – $39,794 |
| Virginia | 5 | $32,141 | $17,941 – $66,347 |
| Ohio | 4 | $33,915 | $21,903 – $49,873 |
| North Carolina | 4 | $35,688 | $20,810 – $37,233 |
| Illinois | 7 | $41,233 | $32,601 – $62,670 |
| Missouri | 4 | $43,445 | $23,798 – $49,721 |
| Pennsylvania | 11 | $45,306 | $25,319 – $123,650 |
| Arizona | 3 | $45,821 | $37,654 – $54,915 |
| Florida | 13 | $49,795 | $36,795 – $102,081 |
| Texas | 10 | $62,543 | $29,116 – $131,073 |
| New Jersey | 3 | $69,061 | $49,327 – $79,104 |
| California | 9 | $72,704 | $43,599 – $205,143 |
| New York | 7 | $75,866 | $32,687 – $100,670 |
| Nevada | 4 | $112,316 | $109,813 – $121,380 |
Where Headaches without Major Complications is charged least
Hospitals that performed it at least eleven times, so a single case cannot set the figure.
| Hospital | Charged | Actually paid |
|---|---|---|
|
Meritus Medical Center
Hagerstown, MD |
$9,111 | $8,342 |
|
Winchester Hospital
Winchester, MA |
$10,647 | $9,038 |
|
Medstar Franklin Square Medical Center
Rosedale, MD |
$13,675 | $12,204 |
|
South Shore Hospital
South Weymouth, MA |
$15,913 | $7,315 |
|
Johns Hopkins Hospital, The
Baltimore, MD |
$16,448 | $15,799 |
|
Chesapeake General Hospital
Chesapeake, VA |
$17,941 | $6,307 |
|
Duke University Hospital
Durham, NC |
$20,810 | $10,044 |
|
Spectrum Health
Grand Rapids, MI |
$20,871 | $10,247 |
|
Northeast Hospital Corporation
Beverly, MA |
$21,080 | $7,238 |
|
Riverside Methodist Hospital
Columbus, OH |
$21,903 | $7,865 |
|
Inova Alexandria Hospital
Alexandria, VA |
$22,611 | $7,284 |
|
Sanford Medical Center Fargo
Fargo, ND |
$22,954 | $8,933 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
|
Stanford Health Care
Stanford, CA |
$205,143 | $35,349 |
|
Riverside Community Hospital
Riverside, CA |
$146,898 | $11,294 |
|
Hca Houston Healthcare Kingwood
Kingwood, TX |
$131,073 | $8,244 |
|
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Los Angeles, CA |
$129,927 | $11,210 |
|
Upmc Presbyterian Shadyside
Pittsburgh, PA |
$123,650 | $10,031 |
|
Henderson Hospital
Henderson, NV |
$121,380 | $9,374 |
|
Wesley Medical Center
Wichita, KS |
$117,983 | $7,540 |
|
Centennial Hills Hospital Medical Center
Las Vegas, NV |
$114,650 | $7,299 |
|
Sunrise Hospital And Medical Center
Las Vegas, NV |
$109,982 | $8,136 |
|
Mountainview Hospital
Las Vegas, NV |
$109,813 | $9,226 |
|
Hca Florida North Florida Hospital
Gainesville, FL |
$102,081 | $7,855 |
|
Nyu Langone Hospitals
New York, NY |
$100,670 | $11,548 |
Questions people ask
What do U.S. hospitals charge for Headaches without Major Complications?
Across 110 U.S. hospitals, the middle charge for Headaches without Major Complications is $46,101. Half of hospitals charge less than that and half charge more. The cheapest quarter charge under $32,622 and the dearest quarter over $68,104.
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 Headaches without Major Complications, the hospitals in the dearest tenth charge about 4.4x 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. $9,348 is roughly what Medicare actually paid per case, against an average charge of $55,031. 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 103: “HEADACHES WITHOUT 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.