Pathological Fractures and Musculoskeletal and Connective Tissue Malignancy with Major — what U.S. hospitals charge
MS-DRG 542 · Inpatient stay · 184 U.S. hospitals publish a price
Cheapest quarter
under $50,687
Typical charge
$68,552
Dearest quarter
over $109,135
Actually paid
$18,572
The middle U.S. hospital bills $68,552 for Pathological Fractures and Musculoskeletal and Connective Tissue Malignancy with Major. The dearest hospitals charge about 4.6x what the cheapest do for the same coded work. Medicare actually paid about $18,572 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.
Pathological Fractures and Musculoskeletal and Connective Tissue Malignancy with Major cost by state
The middle charge in each state where at least three hospitals publish a price, cheapest first.
| State | Hospitals | Typical charge | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts | 15 | $38,297 | $21,827 – $119,400 |
| Missouri | 5 | $42,102 | $29,257 – $125,062 |
| New Mexico | 3 | $42,573 | $37,974 – $65,678 |
| Wisconsin | 5 | $43,931 | $28,560 – $91,643 |
| Minnesota | 6 | $44,632 | $37,425 – $101,263 |
| Virginia | 5 | $50,714 | $31,695 – $65,821 |
| Washington | 5 | $50,885 | $28,750 – $74,180 |
| Ohio | 6 | $51,987 | $45,050 – $86,952 |
| Oregon | 3 | $53,486 | $47,910 – $70,608 |
| Illinois | 13 | $55,646 | $31,834 – $110,295 |
| Tennessee | 4 | $55,717 | $52,873 – $88,334 |
| North Carolina | 4 | $56,929 | $38,886 – $81,771 |
| South Carolina | 3 | $59,318 | $43,134 – $66,149 |
| Florida | 15 | $68,304 | $36,371 – $181,953 |
| Michigan | 5 | $68,639 | $50,059 – $84,313 |
| Arizona | 8 | $80,811 | $44,702 – $115,307 |
| New Jersey | 7 | $110,343 | $84,351 – $219,453 |
| Texas | 5 | $114,593 | $61,988 – $225,453 |
| Colorado | 4 | $116,221 | $100,980 – $252,671 |
| Pennsylvania | 10 | $117,017 | $40,824 – $460,828 |
| New York | 13 | $161,521 | $54,165 – $253,257 |
| California | 13 | $166,491 | $51,064 – $554,399 |
Where Pathological Fractures and Musculoskeletal and Connective Tissue Malignancy with Major is charged least
Hospitals that performed it at least eleven times, so a single case cannot set the figure.
| Hospital | Charged | Actually paid |
|---|---|---|
|
Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital Plymouth
Plymouth, MA |
$21,827 | $14,158 |
|
Winchester Hospital
Winchester, MA |
$24,171 | $13,947 |
|
South Shore Hospital
South Weymouth, MA |
$24,544 | $13,468 |
|
White County Medical Center
Searcy, AR |
$27,120 | $14,093 |
|
Northeast Hospital Corporation
Beverly, MA |
$27,360 | $14,035 |
|
Mayo Clinic Health System-Franciscan Medical Center Inc
La Crosse, WI |
$28,560 | $14,054 |
|
Olympic Medical Center
Port Angeles, WA |
$28,750 | $15,458 |
|
Mosaic Life Care At St Joseph
Saint Joseph, MO |
$29,257 | $16,662 |
|
Mary Washington Hospital
Fredericksburg, VA |
$31,695 | $13,754 |
|
Northwest Community Hospital 1
Arlington Heights, IL |
$31,834 | $11,763 |
|
Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, Burlington
Burlington, MA |
$31,840 | $17,798 |
|
The Nebraska Methodist Hospital
Omaha, NE |
$33,394 | $12,630 |
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 |
$554,399 | $41,526 |
|
Hospital Of Univ Of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA |
$460,828 | $55,740 |
|
Stanford Health Care
Stanford, CA |
$319,757 | $33,277 |
|
Ucsf Medical Center
San Francisco, CA |
$254,799 | $56,610 |
|
Montefiore Medical Center
Bronx, NY |
$253,257 | $31,943 |
|
University Of Colorado Hospital Authority
Aurora, CO |
$252,671 | $18,905 |
|
Suny/Stony Brook University Hospital
Stony Brook, NY |
$247,740 | $32,455 |
|
University Of California Davis Medical Center
Sacramento, CA |
$227,585 | $33,977 |
|
Houston Methodist Hospital
Houston, TX |
$225,453 | $29,788 |
|
New York-Presbyterian Hospital
New York, NY |
$220,427 | $28,109 |
|
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
New Brunswick, NJ |
$219,453 | $25,554 |
|
Lenox Hill Hospital
New York, NY |
$196,799 | $33,211 |
Questions people ask
What do U.S. hospitals charge for Pathological Fractures and Musculoskeletal and Connective Tissue Malignancy with Major?
Across 184 U.S. hospitals, the middle charge for Pathological Fractures and Musculoskeletal and Connective Tissue Malignancy with Major is $68,552. Half of hospitals charge less than that and half charge more. The cheapest quarter charge under $50,687 and the dearest quarter over $109,135.
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 Pathological Fractures and Musculoskeletal and Connective Tissue Malignancy with Major, the hospitals in the dearest tenth charge about 4.6x 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. $18,572 is roughly what Medicare actually paid per case, against an average charge of $89,227. 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 542: “PATHOLOGICAL FRACTURES AND MUSCULOSKELETAL AND CONNECTIVE TISSUE MALIGNANCY WITH 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.