Ventricular Shunt Procedures with Major Complications — what U.S. hospitals charge
MS-DRG 031 · Inpatient stay · 7 U.S. hospitals publish a price
Cheapest quarter
under $161,460
Typical charge
$270,952
Dearest quarter
over $336,541
Actually paid
$55,878
The middle U.S. hospital bills $270,952 for Ventricular Shunt Procedures with Major Complications. The dearest hospitals charge about 2.7x what the cheapest do for the same coded work. Medicare actually paid about $55,878 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 Ventricular Shunt Procedures with 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 |
|---|---|---|
|
Yale-New Haven Hospital
New Haven, CT |
$100,543 | $49,457 |
|
Brigham And Women's Hospital
Boston, MA |
$161,439 | $46,535 |
|
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, MA |
$161,482 | $47,598 |
|
Uc San Diego Health Hillcrest - Hillcrest Med Ctr
San Diego, CA |
$270,952 | $67,019 |
|
Nyu Langone Hospitals
New York, NY |
$313,567 | $44,366 |
|
Ucsf Medical Center
San Francisco, CA |
$359,516 | $68,934 |
|
Mount Sinai Hospital
New York, NY |
$396,245 | $67,238 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
|
Mount Sinai Hospital
New York, NY |
$396,245 | $67,238 |
|
Ucsf Medical Center
San Francisco, CA |
$359,516 | $68,934 |
|
Nyu Langone Hospitals
New York, NY |
$313,567 | $44,366 |
|
Uc San Diego Health Hillcrest - Hillcrest Med Ctr
San Diego, CA |
$270,952 | $67,019 |
|
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, MA |
$161,482 | $47,598 |
|
Brigham And Women's Hospital
Boston, MA |
$161,439 | $46,535 |
|
Yale-New Haven Hospital
New Haven, CT |
$100,543 | $49,457 |
Questions people ask
What do U.S. hospitals charge for Ventricular Shunt Procedures with Major Complications?
Across 7 U.S. hospitals, the middle charge for Ventricular Shunt Procedures with Major Complications is $270,952. Half of hospitals charge less than that and half charge more. The cheapest quarter charge under $161,460 and the dearest quarter over $336,541.
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 Ventricular Shunt Procedures with Major Complications, the hospitals in the dearest tenth charge about 2.7x 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. $55,878 is roughly what Medicare actually paid per case, against an average charge of $250,193. 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 031: “VENTRICULAR SHUNT PROCEDURES 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.