Price differences

Same hospital stay, very different bill

Updated November 11, 2026

3.9×how much more a high-priced hospital bills than a low-priced one, for the same stay

1.7×the same gap in what is actually paid

$32k–$141kbills for sepsis, with major complications, most hospitals

Medicare groups every hospital stay into a code, so the same code at two hospitals is, as nearly as the data allows, the same care. Yet the bill for it depends on which door you walk through. The bars below run from a low-priced hospital (the 10th percentile) to a high-priced one (the 90th); the tick is the typical hospital. Orange is what hospitals bill, blue is what was actually paid.

The same stay at a low-priced and a high-priced hospital

Billed (list price)Actually paid (Medicare + patient)

Sepsis, with major complications

$32k–$141k

$13k–$24k

Heart failure, with major complications

$22k–$96k

$8.9k–$16k

Lung infection, with major complications

$30k–$118k

$11k–$19k

Pneumonia, with major complications

$25k–$101k

$9.3k–$15k

Sepsis

$21k–$82k

$7.4k–$13k

Urinary tract infection

$17k–$65k

$5.9k–$10k

Respiratory failure

$26k–$100k

$8.8k–$16k

Stomach and digestive disorders

$18k–$70k

$5.8k–$10k

Heart attack, with major complications

$33k–$128k

$11k–$19k

Urinary tract infection, with major complications

$23k–$89k

$8.1k–$14k

Infection needing surgery, with major complications

$93k–$392k

$32k–$61k

Kidney failure, with complications

$18k–$71k

$6.5k–$11k

Stomach or intestinal bleeding, with complications

$24k–$83k

$7.1k–$12k

Other kidney and urinary problems, with major complications

$31k–$127k

$11k–$20k

The gap doesn't come from comparing cheap states with expensive ones. It is there inside a single state. The map shows, for sepsis, with major complications, how many times more a high-priced hospital bills than a low-priced one in the same state.

Sepsis, with major complications: high-priced vs low-priced hospitals in the same state

1.5×–2.2×
2.2×–2.4×
2.4×–2.8×
2.8×–3.8×
3.8×–6.7×

The numbers in a table

Stay	Hospitals	Bill, low-priced	Bill, typical	Bill, high-priced	Gap	Paid, low	Paid, high	Gap
Sepsis, with major complications	2661	$32,161	$65,249	$140,999	4.4×	$13,356	$23,576	1.8×
Heart failure, with major complications	2587	$22,190	$43,409	$96,115	4.3×	$8,933	$15,748	1.8×
Lung infection, with major complications	2332	$30,023	$55,022	$118,145	3.9×	$11,348	$19,256	1.7×
Pneumonia, with major complications	2442	$24,559	$46,587	$101,466	4.1×	$9,269	$15,494	1.7×
Sepsis	2216	$21,193	$39,226	$82,126	3.9×	$7,445	$13,046	1.8×
Urinary tract infection	2133	$16,643	$29,779	$64,652	3.9×	$5,854	$10,231	1.7×
Respiratory failure	2098	$25,846	$48,417	$99,898	3.9×	$8,843	$15,652	1.8×
Stomach and digestive disorders	1962	$18,136	$32,257	$70,147	3.9×	$5,825	$10,174	1.7×
Heart attack, with major complications	1825	$32,825	$61,366	$128,249	3.9×	$10,776	$19,474	1.8×
Urinary tract infection, with major complications	1945	$22,594	$40,751	$89,143	3.9×	$8,108	$13,924	1.7×
Infection needing surgery, with major complications	1779	$92,657	$177,949	$391,936	4.2×	$31,960	$61,483	1.9×
Kidney failure, with complications	2018	$18,296	$32,957	$71,470	3.9×	$6,504	$11,250	1.7×
Stomach or intestinal bleeding, with complications	1789	$23,670	$41,299	$83,218	3.5×	$7,105	$12,373	1.7×
Other kidney and urinary problems, with major complications	1795	$30,537	$56,810	$126,883	4.2×	$11,147	$19,537	1.8×

What to do with this. For planned care, compare hospitals before you choose: pick the stay above, then your state, or use the cost estimator. With insurance, what matters is your plan's negotiated rate, which also varies by hospital.

Sources: CMS, Medicare Inpatient Hospitals by Provider and Service: each hospital's average for the stay. Low-priced and high-priced are the 10th and 90th percentile of hospitals, so the extremes are left out. How the numbers work.