Signs and Symptoms without Major Complications — what U.S. hospitals charge
MS-DRG 948 · Inpatient stay · 569 U.S. hospitals publish a price
Cheapest quarter
under $24,112
Typical charge
$32,435
Dearest quarter
over $46,292
Actually paid
$7,978
The middle U.S. hospital bills $32,435 for Signs and Symptoms without Major Complications. The dearest hospitals charge about 3.7x what the cheapest do for the same coded work. Medicare actually paid about $7,978 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.
Signs and Symptoms 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 | 21 | $12,798 | $7,820 – $22,100 |
| Arkansas | 5 | $15,456 | $12,379 – $30,419 |
| Massachusetts | 24 | $17,617 | $9,383 – $62,064 |
| Mississippi | 5 | $21,386 | $8,740 – $29,663 |
| Iowa | 7 | $22,990 | $15,935 – $36,633 |
| West Virginia | 7 | $23,468 | $16,104 – $45,225 |
| Michigan | 23 | $23,787 | $7,057 – $42,840 |
| Ohio | 23 | $25,554 | $15,738 – $48,408 |
| Alabama | 9 | $25,769 | $14,070 – $73,136 |
| Minnesota | 8 | $26,163 | $18,533 – $42,551 |
| Nebraska | 5 | $27,147 | $18,500 – $92,088 |
| Wisconsin | 8 | $27,151 | $17,423 – $44,069 |
| Tennessee | 12 | $27,581 | $19,831 – $52,573 |
| Washington | 5 | $28,013 | $26,028 – $32,822 |
| Indiana | 18 | $28,181 | $19,211 – $45,225 |
| Louisiana | 9 | $28,667 | $25,905 – $65,211 |
| North Carolina | 18 | $29,568 | $18,447 – $43,519 |
| South Carolina | 8 | $29,976 | $17,695 – $58,719 |
| New Hampshire | 4 | $30,177 | $24,018 – $33,238 |
| Virginia | 13 | $30,240 | $14,564 – $49,951 |
| South Dakota | 3 | $30,467 | $16,811 – $38,743 |
| Idaho | 3 | $31,216 | $24,284 – $34,739 |
| Delaware | 3 | $31,471 | $27,350 – $34,837 |
| Kentucky | 13 | $31,479 | $11,048 – $45,218 |
| Illinois | 31 | $31,584 | $16,571 – $58,257 |
| Missouri | 12 | $34,713 | $19,345 – $61,816 |
| Georgia | 20 | $36,368 | $17,598 – $58,956 |
| Pennsylvania | 30 | $36,810 | $10,736 – $146,870 |
| Texas | 20 | $37,687 | $24,721 – $72,036 |
| Oklahoma | 6 | $38,198 | $18,669 – $70,188 |
| Florida | 47 | $38,999 | $10,123 – $78,498 |
| Oregon | 3 | $39,395 | $19,410 – $42,398 |
| Arizona | 10 | $40,439 | $28,306 – $64,396 |
| Kansas | 6 | $42,315 | $25,746 – $61,828 |
| New York | 41 | $45,757 | $14,954 – $93,027 |
| New Jersey | 23 | $57,355 | $27,538 – $169,494 |
| California | 49 | $66,662 | $20,822 – $147,872 |
Where Signs and Symptoms 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 |
|---|---|---|
|
Surgeons Choice Medical Center
Southfield, MI |
$7,057 | $5,773 |
|
Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center, Inc
Annapolis, MD |
$7,820 | $7,187 |
|
University Of Md St Joseph Medical Center
Towson, MD |
$8,610 | $7,670 |
|
South Central Reg Med Ctr
Laurel, MS |
$8,740 | $5,581 |
|
Winchester Hospital
Winchester, MA |
$9,383 | $6,375 |
|
Jackson Hospital
Marianna, FL |
$10,123 | $7,097 |
|
Frederick Health Hospital
Frederick, MD |
$10,168 | $9,480 |
|
Heritage Valley Beaver
Beaver, PA |
$10,736 | $6,020 |
|
Suburban Hospital
Bethesda, MD |
$11,006 | $9,779 |
|
Brown University Health Morton Hospital
Taunton, MA |
$11,019 | $6,688 |
|
Monroe County Medical Center
Tompkinsville, KY |
$11,048 | $6,122 |
|
Meritus Medical Center
Hagerstown, MD |
$11,644 | $10,852 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
|
Carepoint Health - Bayonne Medical Center
Bayonne, NJ |
$169,494 | $9,603 |
|
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Los Angeles, CA |
$147,872 | $11,252 |
|
Hospital Of Univ Of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA |
$146,870 | $12,850 |
|
Stanford Health Care
Stanford, CA |
$146,807 | $17,722 |
|
Uci Health - Fountain Valley
Fountain Valley, CA |
$123,400 | $8,637 |
|
Pih Health Hospital-Whittier
Whittier, CA |
$107,435 | $9,702 |
|
Uci Health - Los Alamitos
Los Alamitos, CA |
$105,781 | $7,587 |
|
Temple Health - Chestnut Hill Hospital
Philadelphia, PA |
$103,507 | $8,001 |
|
Pennsylvania Hospital
Philadelphia, PA |
$98,803 | $10,384 |
|
Marinhealth Medical Center
Greenbrae, CA |
$97,721 | $9,308 |
|
Memorialcare Long Beach Medical Center
Long Beach, CA |
$94,838 | $9,238 |
|
Nyu Langone Hospitals
New York, NY |
$93,027 | $11,610 |
Questions people ask
What do U.S. hospitals charge for Signs and Symptoms without Major Complications?
Across 569 U.S. hospitals, the middle charge for Signs and Symptoms without Major Complications is $32,435. Half of hospitals charge less than that and half charge more. The cheapest quarter charge under $24,112 and the dearest quarter over $46,292.
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 Signs and Symptoms without Major Complications, the hospitals in the dearest tenth charge about 3.7x 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. $7,978 is roughly what Medicare actually paid per case, against an average charge of $39,255. 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 948: “SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS 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.