The federal office of Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have released data on what hospitals across the nation charge for the 100 most common Medicare inpatient stays. Hospitals determine what they will charge for items and services provided to patients and these “charges” are the amount the hospital generally bills for an item or service.
The variance in what hospitals charge both regionally and by procedure is apparent and is already the subject of a story in the New York Times.A press release by HHS highlights the fact that, even within the same geographic area, prices can vary dramatically. For example, the average inpatient hospital charges for services that may be provided to treat heart failure range from a low of $21,000 to a high of $46,000 in Denver, Colo., and from a low of $9,000 to a high of $51,000 in Jackson, Miss.
The Home Care Alliance isolated the state-specific data for Massachusetts here.
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