Guides
How hospital pricing actually works, what you are entitled to, and how to pay less. Written from the files and the rules, not from a press release.
How hospital pricing works
How hospital price transparency works: the files, the rule and what is actually in them
Since 2021 every US hospital must publish its prices in a machine-readable file. Here is what the rule requires, what the files contain, why so many are hard to use, and how PricedCare reads them.
4 min read · updated 2026-09-19
What is a facility fee, and why is the hospital's price not the whole bill?
The price a hospital publishes for a procedure is its facility fee. The surgeon, anesthesia, pathology and radiology usually bill separately. Here is what each part is, who bills it, and how to get the full picture before you go.
3 min read · updated 2026-09-19
Screening versus diagnostic: the one word that changes your bill
The same colonoscopy or mammogram is free as a screening and billable as a diagnostic. What decides which code is used, how a screening can turn diagnostic mid-procedure, and how to protect yourself.
3 min read · updated 2026-09-19
Why the same procedure costs $400 at one hospital and $4,000 at another
The price files show spreads of ten times within one city for the same code. What actually drives the difference, and why it has almost nothing to do with quality.
3 min read · updated 2026-09-19
Paying less
How to ask a hospital for a cash price, and get it in writing
Every hospital publishes a discounted cash price, and many will go lower. What to ask for, what to say, when paying cash beats using insurance, and how to make the number stick.
4 min read · updated 2026-09-19
Cash price or insurance? When paying yourself is cheaper
The hospital's cash price is sometimes lower than the rate your insurer negotiated. When that happens, why it happens, and how to decide which to use for a given service.
3 min read · updated 2026-09-19
Hospital financial assistance and charity care: who qualifies and how to apply
Most US hospitals are nonprofits, and federal law requires them to have a written financial assistance policy. Many people qualify for free or discounted care without knowing it. How the rules work and how to apply.
3 min read · updated 2026-09-19
Hospital, surgery center or imaging center: why the same procedure costs half as much down the road
Where a procedure is done changes the price more than who does it. What ambulatory surgery centers and freestanding imaging centers are, when they are an option, and what the hospital files do not show.
3 min read · updated 2026-09-19
How to negotiate a medical bill after it arrives
A hospital bill is an opening offer. The order to do things in, what discounts exist, how to use the hospital's own published prices as leverage, and when to bring in help.
4 min read · updated 2026-09-19
Your rights
How to read a hospital bill and find the errors
The summary bill hides everything. Ask for the itemized statement, learn what the codes mean, and check each line against the hospital's own published prices. The most common errors, and what to do about them.
4 min read · updated 2026-09-19
The No Surprises Act, explained: what a hospital can and cannot bill you
Since 2022 a federal law limits surprise bills from out-of-network doctors at in-network hospitals and gives self-pay patients the right to a written estimate. What it covers, what it does not, and how to use it.
4 min read · updated 2026-09-19
Good faith estimates: how to get one and what to do when the bill is higher
If you pay for care yourself, federal law requires a written estimate before a scheduled service and lets you dispute a bill that comes in $400 or more above it. The exact steps.
4 min read · updated 2026-09-19
Reading the data
CPT, HCPCS, DRG and revenue codes: how to read the codes on a hospital bill and in a price file
Every price in a hospital's file and every line on a bill is attached to a code. What the code families are, what they cover, and why the code matters more than the description.
4 min read · updated 2026-09-19
How PricedCare reads hospital price files: methodology, limits and what we leave out
Where our data comes from, exactly what we do with it, the rules we apply before publishing a comparison, and the things a price on this site cannot tell you.
4 min read · updated 2026-09-19