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Procedure price report · Consultation, evaluation, and preventative care

Emergency room visit, highest level

CPT 99285the billing code this page is about

An emergency department visit involving a problem of high complexity that poses an immediate significant threat to life or function, the highest of five billing levels.

Hospitals typically charge $1,251 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 3,465 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,342. Most fall between $544 and $2,610 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
3,465
States
50
Filings dated
Aug 2022 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 25, 2026

Median: half of hospitals filed less, half more — and it is a price some hospital actually filed. Average of the middle 60%: the mean of the prices between the 20th and 80th percentiles. We never publish the plain average, the lowest or the highest price: the extremes in hospital price files are chargemaster artefacts, not prices anyone pays.

What hospitals charge, from cheapest to most expensive

Cash price percentiles, outpatient, across 3,465 hospitals. Each figure is a price a hospital filed. 10th: one in ten hospitals charges less; 25th: a quarter charge less; Median: half charge less; 75th: three quarters charge less; 90th: nine in ten charge less.
10th25thMedian75th90th
$337$634$1,251$2,294$4,066

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($337 vs $4,066).

How the prices are spread

$220 – $305: 115 hospitals$220$305 – $422: 235 hospitals$422 – $585: 249 hospitals$422$585 – $811: 368 hospitals$811 – $1,124: 428 hospitals$811$1,124 – $1,557: 476 hospitals$1,557 – $2,157: 500 hospitals$1,557$2,157 – $2,988: 361 hospitals$2,988 – $4,139: 224 hospitals$2,988$4,139 – $5,735: 165 hospitals$4,139median $1,251price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (3,121 of 3,465 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$220$305115
$305$422235
$422$585249
$585$811368
$811$1,124428
$1,124$1,557476
$1,557$2,157500
$2,157$2,988361
$2,988$4,139224
$4,139$5,735165

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$608
Median cash price$1,251
Cash as a multiple of Medicare2.1×

The Medicare figure is the national unadjusted OPPS rate for this code — what Medicare itself pays a hospital before local wage adjustment. It is a benchmark, not a price anyone is charged.

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $1,251.

Alaska: median $1,561 across 19 hospitalsAK$1,561Maine: median $837 across 28 hospitalsME$837Vermont: median $938 across 14 hospitalsVT$938New Hampshire: median $995 across 25 hospitalsNH$995Washington: median $1,497 across 76 hospitalsWA$1,497Idaho: median $1,832 across 24 hospitalsID$1,832Montana: median $569 across 35 hospitalsMT$569North Dakota: median $1,000 across 32 hospitalsND$1,000Minnesota: median $913 across 110 hospitalsMN$913Illinois: median $1,471 across 131 hospitalsIL$1,471Wisconsin: median $1,078 across 105 hospitalsWI$1,078Michigan: median $1,080 across 102 hospitalsMI$1,080New York: median $1,051 across 119 hospitalsNY$1,051Massachusetts: median $1,382 across 52 hospitalsMA$1,382Oregon: median $656 across 55 hospitalsOR$656Nevada: median $1,679 across 24 hospitalsNV$1,679Wyoming: median $1,266 across 16 hospitalsWY$1,266South Dakota: median $647 across 44 hospitalsSD$647Iowa: median $595 across 75 hospitalsIA$595Indiana: median $1,321 across 98 hospitalsIN$1,321Ohio: median $1,698 across 132 hospitalsOH$1,698Pennsylvania: median $1,084 across 126 hospitalsPA$1,084New Jersey: median $828 across 53 hospitalsNJ$828Connecticut: median $1,204 across 23 hospitalsCT$1,204Rhode Island: median $1,060 across 10 hospitalsRI$1,060California: median $3,284 across 217 hospitalsCA$3,284Utah: median $2,800 across 43 hospitalsUT$2,800Colorado: median $2,329 across 71 hospitalsCO$2,329Nebraska: median $1,168 across 79 hospitalsNE$1,168Missouri: median $1,265 across 80 hospitalsMO$1,265Kentucky: median $1,154 across 69 hospitalsKY$1,154West Virginia: median $1,139 across 43 hospitalsWV$1,139Virginia: median $1,434 across 73 hospitalsVA$1,434Maryland: median $777 across 40 hospitalsMD$777Delaware: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $1,666 across 55 hospitalsAZ$1,666New Mexico: median $861 across 32 hospitalsNM$861Kansas: median $550 across 94 hospitalsKS$550Arkansas: median $705 across 38 hospitalsAR$705Tennessee: median $898 across 85 hospitalsTN$898North Carolina: median $1,624 across 92 hospitalsNC$1,624South Carolina: median $1,724 across 52 hospitalsSC$1,724Oklahoma: median $693 across 71 hospitalsOK$693Louisiana: median $726 across 47 hospitalsLA$726Mississippi: median $554 across 55 hospitalsMS$554Alabama: median $674 across 44 hospitalsAL$674Georgia: median $1,055 across 109 hospitalsGA$1,055Hawaii: median $2,758 across 17 hospitalsHI$2,758Texas: median $1,740 across 251 hospitalsTX$1,740Florida: median $3,169 across 173 hospitalsFL$3,169
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,251. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA217$3,284+162%$1,471 – $5,311
Florida FL173$3,169+153%$1,342 – $6,436
Utah UT43$2,800+124%$1,024 – $4,138
Hawaii HI17$2,758+120%$2,261 – $3,020
Colorado CO71$2,329+86%$866 – $7,026
Idaho ID24$1,832+46%$387 – $2,788
Texas TX251$1,740+39%$705 – $3,128
South Carolina SC52$1,724+38%$1,292 – $2,337
Ohio OH132$1,698+36%$930 – $2,694
Nevada NV24$1,679+34%$761 – $3,036
Arizona AZ55$1,666+33%$1,013 – $4,280
North Carolina NC92$1,624+30%$951 – $2,072
Alaska AK19$1,561+25%$994 – $2,301
Washington WA76$1,497+20%$406 – $2,796
Illinois IL131$1,471+18%$753 – $2,358
Virginia VA73$1,434+15%$998 – $2,770
Massachusetts MA52$1,382+10%$860 – $2,595
Indiana IN98$1,321+6%$686 – $2,434
Wyoming WY16$1,266+1%$425 – $2,378
Missouri MO80$1,265+1%$555 – $2,475
Connecticut CT23$1,204−4%$635 – $1,990
Nebraska NE79$1,168−7%$422 – $1,524
Kentucky KY69$1,154−8%$620 – $2,462
West Virginia WV43$1,139−9%$496 – $1,592
Pennsylvania PA126$1,084−13%$508 – $2,351
Michigan MI102$1,080−14%$356 – $1,965
Wisconsin WI105$1,078−14%$617 – $1,724
Rhode Island RI10$1,060−15%$513 – $1,405
Georgia GA109$1,055−16%$398 – $2,347
New York NY119$1,051−16%$428 – $2,872
North Dakota ND32$1,000−20%$416 – $1,397
New Hampshire NH25$995−20%$239 – $1,942
Vermont VT14$938−25%$275 – $1,712
Minnesota MN110$913−27%$419 – $1,314
Tennessee TN85$898−28%$378 – $1,537
New Mexico NM32$861−31%$497 – $1,646
Maine ME28$837−33%$587 – $1,310
New Jersey NJ53$828−34%$679 – $2,124
Maryland MD40$777−38%$142 – $1,035
Louisiana LA47$726−42%$461 – $1,449
Arkansas AR38$705−44%$432 – $1,053
Oklahoma OK71$693−45%$412 – $1,390
Alabama AL44$674−46%$373 – $1,479
Oregon OR55$656−48%$392 – $2,156
South Dakota SD44$647−48%$376 – $1,428
Iowa IA75$595−52%$413 – $1,191
Montana MT35$569−55%$268 – $1,041
Mississippi MS55$554−56%$234 – $890
Kansas KS94$550−56%$315 – $1,267
Delaware DE7not enough hospitals filed a usable price

Hospitals like yours

The same distribution cut by the kind of hospital. Hospital type and ownership come from CMS; a hospital counts as part of a system when its price file is shared with at least one other hospital under the same brand. The national median is $1,251.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,403$1,519$656 – $3,092
Children’s51$2,379$748 – $3,607
Critical access1,002$834$394 – $1,582
Ownership
For-profit486$2,067$757 – $5,490
Government661$934$393 – $1,779
Non-profit2,309$1,273$561 – $2,487
System affiliation
Part of a system2,806$1,361$596 – $2,770
Independent659$866$387 – $1,802

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,354
Median cash price$1,251
Cash as a share of list, median hospital65%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 35%. The share is the median of each hospital’s own cash ÷ list ratio, over hospitals that filed both — not the ratio of the two medians above.

The same procedure, inpatient

2,631 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,395 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,456; most fall between $650 and $2,527.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,631 hospitals. Each figure is a price a hospital filed. 10th: one in ten hospitals charges less; 25th: a quarter charge less; Median: half charge less; 75th: three quarters charge less; 90th: nine in ten charge less.
10th25thMedian75th90th
$401$774$1,395$2,319$3,416

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.5× what the cheapest tenth charges ($401 vs $3,416).

Of the 2,781 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,631 gave a usable cash price; 46 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 104 a list price only.

How complete is this

3,465 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (88%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,661 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted3,465
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here74
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded2
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded120
Hospitals that filed this code3,661

Sections not shown for this setting

  • Since our last snapshot: there is no earlier snapshot at least 90 days older than this one yet.

We last checked these hospitals’ price files for changes between July 20, 2026 and September 25, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 25, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Related procedures

Part of the Consultation, evaluation, and preventative care family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Emergency Department Visit High Mdm.

Method

Source
The machine-readable price files every U.S. hospital is required by CMS to publish, parsed per hospital. Nothing is surveyed, sampled or modelled.
What counts
One cash (self-pay) price per hospital for this code and setting. A hospital’s own filing can rule its number out — a placeholder, a “not applicable” note, a list price standing in for cash — and our plausibility checks can flag a price far below what every other hospital files. Both kinds are disclosed above and excluded from the statistics; on the compare tool a flagged price is still shown.
Statistics
Percentiles are discrete: each is a price some hospital filed. The average is the mean of the prices between the 20th and 80th percentiles. We never publish the plain mean, the minimum or the maximum. A state needs 10 hospitals and a segment 20 to show a figure; otherwise the row shows its count and no number. Medicare is the national unadjusted OPPS rate where one exists.
Names
Procedure names on these pages are our own plain-language titles, not the AMA’s copyrighted CPT descriptors. The code is the identity.

The full rules — sources, statistics, thresholds, limitations — are on the methodology page.

Download this page’s figures: JSON · CSV. Aggregates only — the per-hospital prices are on the compare tool.

Cite: HospitalRates.com, “Emergency room visit, highest level (CPT 99285) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-99285-emergency-room-visit-highest-level