How much does it cost without insurance? Self-pay prices by state

Typical self-pay prices at a glance

These are national ranges for common procedures paid in cash, before any discount you negotiate. Prices in high-cost metro areas run above them and rural areas below; pick your area in the estimator above for a local range.

How these estimates are built

Every range starts from public data, not from provider advertising. For medical care the anchor is what Medicare pays: CMS publishes the relative value units and local cost indexes behind every physician fee,^[1][2] and a separate schedule for hospital outpatient facility fees.^[3] Studies of hospital price-transparency files and claims show how far cash and commercial prices sit above Medicare, and we turn those findings into a low, typical and high multiplier.^[4][5]

Dentistry has no free national fee database. Dental ranges come from published dentist fee data (FAIR Health charges and the ADA fee survey as reported in research), checked against what self-paying patients report, with Medicaid payment levels as the floor.^[6][7] The methodology page lists every source, its date and how it is used.

• Ranges, never one price. The same crown or MRI can cost twice as much at one office as at the next.
• Area-adjusted. Medicare's geographic indexes raise prices in places such as Manhattan or San Francisco and lower them in rural areas.
• Dated. Medicare figures are the 2027 rates; each page says when it was last checked.

Why the same procedure costs different amounts

Where you are treated matters as much as what is done. An MRI at an independent imaging center is billed as one fee, while the same scan in a hospital outpatient department adds a facility fee on top of the radiologist's reading fee, which is why hospital imaging usually costs more. Emergency rooms add a facility fee that rises with the visit level. Dental offices set their own fees, so a practice in a downtown office pays more rent and charges more than one in a small town.

The price you are first quoted is not always the price you have to pay. Many providers have a self-pay or prompt-pay discount, and federal rules require a written good faith estimate for uninsured patients who schedule care in advance.^[8]

Ways to pay less without insurance

1. Ask for a written estimate with procedure codes before scheduled care. See your rights to a good faith estimate.
2. Use a health center with a sliding fee. Federally funded health centers discount by income; check where your income falls on the sliding scale.
3. Try a dental school clinic for cleanings, fillings, root canals and dentures. See what dental schools charge.
4. Negotiate the bill using Medicare's rate as an anchor, with the counteroffer calculator.
5. Compare payment plans before signing up for a medical credit card with deferred interest: medical payment plan calculator.
6. Pay with pre-tax money if you have an HSA or FSA: what it saves.

Every estimator and guide

Find a price42 price guides