Major Chest Trauma without Complications/mcc — what U.S. hospitals charge
MS-DRG 185 · Inpatient stay · 10 U.S. hospitals publish a price
Cheapest quarter
under $23,811
Typical charge
$52,172
Dearest quarter
over $68,702
Actually paid
$10,249
The middle U.S. hospital bills $52,172 for Major Chest Trauma without Complications/mcc. The dearest hospitals charge about 4.0x what the cheapest do for the same coded work. Medicare actually paid about $10,249 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 Major Chest Trauma 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 |
|---|---|---|
|
Baystate Medical Center
Springfield, MA |
$11,843 | $8,419 |
|
St Mary Medical Center
Langhorne, PA |
$21,891 | $6,296 |
|
Rhode Island Hospital
Providence, RI |
$22,868 | $9,077 |
|
Christiana Hospital
Newark, DE |
$26,640 | $8,116 |
|
North Shore University Hospital
Manhasset, NY |
$48,821 | $10,278 |
|
Lehigh Valley Hospital
Allentown, PA |
$55,523 | $7,207 |
|
Suny/Stony Brook University Hospital
Stony Brook, NY |
$59,756 | $10,990 |
|
Marion Communtiy Hospital
Ocala, FL |
$71,684 | $6,607 |
|
Grady Memorial Hospital
Atlanta, GA |
$74,536 | $22,249 |
|
Stanford Health Care
Stanford, CA |
$167,671 | $13,246 |
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 |
$167,671 | $13,246 |
|
Grady Memorial Hospital
Atlanta, GA |
$74,536 | $22,249 |
|
Marion Communtiy Hospital
Ocala, FL |
$71,684 | $6,607 |
|
Suny/Stony Brook University Hospital
Stony Brook, NY |
$59,756 | $10,990 |
|
Lehigh Valley Hospital
Allentown, PA |
$55,523 | $7,207 |
|
North Shore University Hospital
Manhasset, NY |
$48,821 | $10,278 |
|
Christiana Hospital
Newark, DE |
$26,640 | $8,116 |
|
Rhode Island Hospital
Providence, RI |
$22,868 | $9,077 |
|
St Mary Medical Center
Langhorne, PA |
$21,891 | $6,296 |
|
Baystate Medical Center
Springfield, MA |
$11,843 | $8,419 |
Questions people ask
What do U.S. hospitals charge for Major Chest Trauma without Complications/mcc?
Across 10 U.S. hospitals, the middle charge for Major Chest Trauma without Complications/mcc is $52,172. Half of hospitals charge less than that and half charge more. The cheapest quarter charge under $23,811 and the dearest quarter over $68,702.
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 Major Chest Trauma without Complications/mcc, the hospitals in the dearest tenth charge about 4.0x 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. $10,249 is roughly what Medicare actually paid per case, against an average charge of $56,111. 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 185: “MAJOR CHEST TRAUMA 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.