How to ask a hospital for its cash price
Call the hospital’s scheduling or price-estimate line, say you will pay yourself, quote the code, and ask for the total in writing.
What to have ready
- The order from your doctor, with the procedure code (CPT). If it isn’t on the order, ask your doctor’s office for it.
- The price from the hospital’s file, with its date. Each price on this site shows both.
A script
“Hello, I’d like to schedule [procedure], CPT [code], as a self-pay patient. Your published discounted cash price for that code is $[price], from your standard charges file dated [date]. Can you confirm that price? Does it include [contrast / the blood draw]? Will the radiologist or any other doctor bill me separately, and how much? Can you send me a Good Faith Estimate?”
Good to know
- Self-pay patients have a right to a written Good Faith Estimate. See Good Faith Estimates.
- Many hospitals offer an extra prompt-pay discount or financial assistance; ask.
- If the price quoted is higher than the one in the file, ask why; the file may have been updated.