Hospital Analysis

Hospital Fairness Grades: Who's Gouging Patients?

We graded 3,093 U.S. hospitals A through F based on how much they mark up prices above what Medicare actually pays.

🤖AI Overview

Our analysis of 3,093 hospitals found that 44% received an F grade — meaning they charge more than 5x what Medicare pays. Only 7.5% earned an A grade. Hospital pricing has almost no relationship to quality of care.

44%

of hospitals received an F

62%

received a D or F

44%

charge more than 5× Medicare

Grade Distribution

The national average markup is 5.3× what Medicare pays. Here's how hospitals stack up:

232 (7.5%)

399 (12.9%)

546 (17.7%)

555 (17.9%)

1,361 (44.0%)

🚨 Worst Offenders: Top 20 Highest Markup

These hospitals charge the most relative to what Medicare pays per discharge.

#	Hospital	State	Avg Charge	Markup	Grade
1	Capital Health Medical Center - Hopewell	NJ	$375,629	27.1×	F
2	Capital Health Regional Medical Center	NJ	$432,970	25.2×	F
3	Carepoint Health-Christ Hospital	NJ	$393,901	22.6×	F
4	Cleveland Emergency Hospital	TX	$268,638	22.4×	F
5	Desert Springs Hospital	NV	$239,378	20.6×	F
6	Carepoint Health - Bayonne Medical Center	NJ	$297,707	19.4×	F
7	Gadsden Regional Medical Center	AL	$181,871	18.6×	F
8	Centennial Hills Hospital Medical Center	NV	$212,197	18.1×	F
9	Summerlin Hospital Medical Center	NV	$219,418	17.9×	F
10	St Charles Surgical Hospital, Llc	LA	$156,228	17.9×	F
11	North Houston Surgical Hospital Llc	TX	$416,653	17.9×	F
12	Crestwood Medical Center	AL	$164,937	17.5×	F
13	Hca Florida Pasadena Hospital	FL	$160,018	17.2×	F
14	Cjw Medical Center	VA	$201,206	17.1×	F
15	Carepoint Health-Hoboken University Medical Center	NJ	$328,020	16.8×	F
16	Hca Florida Fawcett Hospital	FL	$184,739	16.7×	F
17	Swedish Medical Center	CO	$270,365	16.7×	F
18	Hca Florida South Shore Hospital	FL	$127,176	16.6×	F
19	Western Arizona Regional Medical Center	AZ	$170,811	16.4×	F
20	Hca Florida Twin Cities Hospital	FL	$130,882	16.4×	F

✅ Most Fair: Top 20 Lowest Markup

These hospitals charge closest to what Medicare actually pays.

#	Hospital	State	Avg Charge	Markup	Grade
1	Provident Hospital Of Chicago	IL	$22,685	0.2×	A
2	Harris Health System	TX	$50,179	0.4×	A
3	Guadalupe County Hospital	NM	$9,418	0.5×	A
4	Hemphill County Hospital	TX	$11,381	0.6×	A
5	Lamb Healthcare Center	TX	$10,640	0.7×	A
6	J Paul Jones Hospital	AL	$6,442	0.8×	A
7	Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation	AZ	$13,097	0.8×	A
8	Bibb Medical Center	AL	$7,658	0.8×	A
9	Elmore Community Hospital	AL	$5,933	0.8×	A
10	John H Stroger Jr Hospital	IL	$58,117	0.8×	A
11	Council Oak Comprehensive Healthcare	OK	$9,910	0.9×	A
12	Touchette Regional Hospital Inc	IL	$9,582	0.9×	A
13	Metro Nashville General Hospital	TN	$45,488	0.9×	A
14	Dignity Health - Arizona General Hospital	AZ	$36,234	0.9×	A
15	Phoenix Indian Medical Center	AZ	$18,202	1.0×	A
16	Lake Martin Community Hospital	AL	$6,433	1.0×	A
17	Whiteriver Phs Indian Hospital	AZ	$12,378	1.0×	A
18	Welch Community Hospital	WV	$14,675	1.0×	A
19	University Of Maryland Medical Center	MD	$70,318	1.0×	A
20	Neshoba County General Hospital	MS	$8,178	1.0×	A

State-by-State Analysis

Average markup and grade breakdown for each state, sorted from most expensive to least.

State	Avg Markup	Avg Charge/Disch	Hospitals	A	B	C	D	F
NV	10.6×	$155,696	22	0	0	4	2	16
FL	8.6×	$106,616	168	4	2	5	6	151
CO	8.1×	$127,758	50	1	3	6	6	34
NJ	7.7×	$116,124	63	1	0	0	4	58
TX	7.6×	$110,346	278	24	10	26	45	173
CA	7.2×	$146,116	279	2	14	22	47	194
AL	6.7×	$77,932	80	16	15	18	6	25
PA	6.7×	$93,705	134	6	14	17	32	65
AZ	6.5×	$97,127	64	8	2	2	9	43
KS	6.5×	$86,952	48	1	12	13	11	11
SC	6.3×	$81,384	52	0	3	6	18	25
AK	6.3×	$133,655	8	1	1	2	1	3
GA	6.0×	$84,165	95	10	9	11	19	46
TN	6.0×	$75,510	79	6	11	15	12	35
OK	6.0×	$76,248	75	12	12	12	13	26
LA	5.7×	$69,279	84	5	16	13	15	35
KY	5.7×	$68,838	62	0	9	12	14	27
DC	5.6×	$127,162	6	0	0	2	2	2
NY	5.6×	$108,174	132	14	42	23	10	43
VA	5.6×	$73,502	71	1	8	22	14	26
IN	5.5×	$69,396	81	1	7	19	16	38
MS	5.4×	$62,838	57	9	13	12	7	16
WA	5.4×	$87,367	47	1	4	1	16	25
IL	5.3×	$72,765	118	4	12	16	27	59
MO	5.3×	$70,874	66	6	9	12	17	22
OH	5.0×	$65,225	119	2	24	20	32	41
WV	5.0×	$58,069	25	1	3	8	6	7
VT	4.9×	$51,750	6	1	0	1	1	3
ID	4.9×	$73,560	15	0	1	4	4	6
NM	4.9×	$69,773	29	6	4	10	1	8
SD	4.8×	$70,595	17	1	3	6	3	4
AR	4.6×	$54,689	45	4	7	15	7	12
NC	4.6×	$62,329	84	1	15	20	22	26
IA	4.6×	$57,026	31	2	3	15	7	4
NH	4.5×	$67,602	13	0	1	5	4	3
WI	4.5×	$63,361	67	0	11	26	19	11
NE	4.5×	$66,886	24	0	3	5	13	3
UT	4.3×	$68,156	32	1	4	11	9	7
CT	4.1×	$69,191	26	1	3	8	12	2
MI	4.1×	$55,872	90	8	23	29	16	14
DE	4.0×	$57,139	6	1	0	2	2	1
MN	4.0×	$68,334	46	4	13	15	9	5
HI	3.9×	$75,331	12	0	5	4	1	2
ME	3.9×	$56,971	17	2	4	6	5	0
OR	3.7×	$68,030	33	0	9	16	6	2
ND	3.7×	$51,119	7	1	0	6	0	0
MT	3.4×	$48,090	12	1	3	5	2	1
RI	3.3×	$46,984	10	0	1	8	1	0
WY	3.1×	$52,994	10	2	4	3	1	0
MA	2.9×	$48,948	54	16	27	7	3	1
MD	1.2×	$26,322	44	44	0	0	0	0

Methodology

Grades are based on the hospital's average markup ratio — total charges divided by total Medicare payments per discharge. Grade A = markup under 2×, B = 2–3×, C = 3–4.5×, D = 4.5–6×, F = over 6×. Data source: 2023 Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MedPAR) file.

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