Soft Tissue Procedures without Complications/mcc — what U.S. hospitals charge
MS-DRG 502 · Inpatient stay · 3 U.S. hospitals publish a price
Cheapest quarter
under $71,344
Typical charge
$95,485
Dearest quarter
over $102,309
Actually paid
$15,660
The middle U.S. hospital bills $95,485 for Soft Tissue Procedures without Complications/mcc. The dearest hospitals charge about 1.9x what the cheapest do for the same coded work. Medicare actually paid about $15,660 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 Soft Tissue Procedures 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 |
|---|---|---|
|
Northshore University Healthsystem - Evanston Hospital
Evanston, IL |
$47,203 | $11,852 |
|
Hospital For Special Surgery
New York, NY |
$95,485 | $16,529 |
|
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, MA |
$109,132 | $18,600 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
|
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, MA |
$109,132 | $18,600 |
|
Hospital For Special Surgery
New York, NY |
$95,485 | $16,529 |
|
Northshore University Healthsystem - Evanston Hospital
Evanston, IL |
$47,203 | $11,852 |
Questions people ask
What do U.S. hospitals charge for Soft Tissue Procedures without Complications/mcc?
Across 3 U.S. hospitals, the middle charge for Soft Tissue Procedures without Complications/mcc is $95,485. Half of hospitals charge less than that and half charge more. The cheapest quarter charge under $71,344 and the dearest quarter over $102,309.
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 Soft Tissue Procedures without Complications/mcc, the hospitals in the dearest tenth charge about 1.9x 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. $15,660 is roughly what Medicare actually paid per case, against an average charge of $86,724. 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 502: “SOFT TISSUE PROCEDURES 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.