Knee Procedures without Principal Diagnosis of Infection with Complications/mcc — what U.S. hospitals charge
MS-DRG 488 · Inpatient stay · 11 U.S. hospitals publish a price
Cheapest quarter
under $39,667
Typical charge
$62,628
Dearest quarter
over $88,537
Actually paid
$19,599
The middle U.S. hospital bills $62,628 for Knee Procedures without Principal Diagnosis of Infection with Complications/mcc. The dearest hospitals charge about 5.7x what the cheapest do for the same coded work. Medicare actually paid about $19,599 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 Knee Procedures without Principal Diagnosis of Infection with 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 |
$17,314 | $15,051 |
|
St. George Regional Hospital
St George, UT |
$31,491 | $16,893 |
|
New England Baptist Hospital
Boston, MA |
$38,515 | $16,204 |
|
Sioux Falls Specialty Hospital
Sioux Falls, SD |
$40,820 | $13,953 |
|
Mayo Clinic Hospital Rochester
Rochester, MN |
$56,452 | $25,675 |
|
Rush University Medical Center
Chicago, IL |
$62,628 | $25,014 |
|
Unitypoint Health - Des Moines Iowa Methodist Medi
Des Moines, IA |
$76,231 | $15,157 |
|
Erlanger Medical Center
Chattanooga, TN |
$83,073 | $18,467 |
|
Hospital For Special Surgery
New York, NY |
$94,001 | $24,037 |
|
Lehigh Valley Hospital
Allentown, PA |
$178,684 | $18,938 |
|
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Los Angeles, CA |
$253,506 | $26,202 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
|
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Los Angeles, CA |
$253,506 | $26,202 |
|
Lehigh Valley Hospital
Allentown, PA |
$178,684 | $18,938 |
|
Hospital For Special Surgery
New York, NY |
$94,001 | $24,037 |
|
Erlanger Medical Center
Chattanooga, TN |
$83,073 | $18,467 |
|
Unitypoint Health - Des Moines Iowa Methodist Medi
Des Moines, IA |
$76,231 | $15,157 |
|
Rush University Medical Center
Chicago, IL |
$62,628 | $25,014 |
|
Mayo Clinic Hospital Rochester
Rochester, MN |
$56,452 | $25,675 |
|
Sioux Falls Specialty Hospital
Sioux Falls, SD |
$40,820 | $13,953 |
|
New England Baptist Hospital
Boston, MA |
$38,515 | $16,204 |
|
St. George Regional Hospital
St George, UT |
$31,491 | $16,893 |
|
Mercy Medical Center Inc
Baltimore, MD |
$17,314 | $15,051 |
Questions people ask
What do U.S. hospitals charge for Knee Procedures without Principal Diagnosis of Infection with Complications/mcc?
Across 11 U.S. hospitals, the middle charge for Knee Procedures without Principal Diagnosis of Infection with Complications/mcc is $62,628. Half of hospitals charge less than that and half charge more. The cheapest quarter charge under $39,667 and the dearest quarter over $88,537.
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 Knee Procedures without Principal Diagnosis of Infection with Complications/mcc, the hospitals in the dearest tenth charge about 5.7x 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. $19,599 is roughly what Medicare actually paid per case, against an average charge of $85,896. 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 488: “KNEE PROCEDURES WITHOUT PRINCIPAL DIAGNOSIS OF INFECTION WITH 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.