Hospital Price Comparison — Frequently Asked Questions

MyCareCost helps you compare hospital prices for medical procedures in your area. We aggregate publicly available price transparency data that hospitals are required to publish, making it easier to understand and compare healthcare costs before you receive care.

Our data comes from machine-readable files (MRFs) that hospitals are legally required to publish under the Hospital Price Transparency Rule. We collect, parse, and organize this data to make it searchable and comparable. Each price listing shows when the data was last updated.

Hospital prices vary due to many factors: location, facility type (academic vs community), operating costs, negotiated rates with different insurers, and the specific services included in each price. The same procedure can cost 2-10x more at one hospital compared to another nearby.

No. The prices shown are what hospitals charge, not necessarily what you'll pay. Your actual cost depends on your insurance plan, deductible status, in-network status, and any copays or coinsurance. Use these prices as a starting point for comparison, then verify with your insurer and the hospital.

Standard (Std) prices are the hospital's gross charges - the full list price before any discounts. Cash prices are discounted rates offered to self-pay patients who pay without insurance. Cash prices are typically lower, but may not include all services.

Some hospitals haven't published compliant price files, or their files may be in formats we can't yet parse. Some procedures may use different billing codes than you searched for. Try searching with different terms or check back later as we continuously add more data.

Absolutely. Health share members are essentially self-pay patients who negotiate directly with providers. MyCareCost shows you the cash and self-pay prices that hospitals are required to publish, so you can compare options before scheduling care. Our negotiation tools (available with Ultra) include call scripts, price challenge letter templates, and fair-price benchmarks based on what other hospitals in your area charge for the same procedure. Many health shares encourage or require members to price-shop before care — MyCareCost makes that easy. Learn more about how health share members use MyCareCost.

Yes. We offer partnership options for health sharing ministries and networks, including co-branded member tools, bulk member access, market benchmark data for negotiation teams, and API integration with member portals. If you run or manage a health share network, reach out to discuss partnership options or visit our health share partnership page.

Each hospital listing shows a freshness badge (Fresh, 3mo, >1yr) based on when the hospital last updated their price file. Hospitals are required to update annually, but many update more frequently. We check for updates regularly.

The compliance grade reflects how well a hospital's published data meets federal transparency requirements - including file format, required data fields, and accessibility. It does not reflect care quality or price fairness.

If you find incorrect information, please submit a correction request. We review all submissions and update our data accordingly.

We offer two paid tiers. Premium ($9/mo) unlocks saved care plans, full search history, data exports (CSV, PDF, JSON), shareable comparison links, price change alerts, market analytics & percentiles, CMS quality ratings, personalized cost calculator, insurance profile & deductible tracking, and “what if” scenario comparisons. Ultra ($15/mo) adds everything in Premium plus episode-of-care cost estimates, procedure bundle breakdowns, bill comparison & overcharge detection, dispute guidance & letter templates, negotiation leverage scores, personalized call scripts, and employer-friendly savings reports. Free users can search and compare prices without an account. See our pricing page for full details.

Premium and Ultra subscribers can set alerts for specific procedures at specific hospitals. We'll notify you when prices change, when they drop below a target, or when new cheaper options appear in your area. Alerts are checked periodically.

Go to Account > Billing and click "Manage Billing" to access the customer portal where you can cancel anytime. Your access continues until the end of your billing period.

No. MyCareCost provides pricing information only. We do not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment recommendations. Always consult with qualified healthcare providers for medical decisions.

We don't collect or store personal health information. Your searches are not linked to health conditions. We use standard security practices including encryption and don't sell personal data. See our Privacy Policy for details.