What It Costs
We do not publish invented price ranges. This section shows how each medical bill is assembled and how to get a real number before your visit.
Most pages that promise you the price of an MRI in New York are publishing a range somebody invented. We do not, because a number with no source behind it is worse than no number: it sets an expectation you then argue against on the phone, and you lose that argument.
What we publish instead is the structure. Almost every medical bill in New York is assembled from the same parts: a facility charge for the place, a professional fee for the person, and a separate charge for every lab, scan and procedure performed. Once you know which parts your visit will generate, you can ask each biller for its own number in advance, and you can check the bill afterward against what you were told.
Each page here takes one common event and takes the bill apart: an emergency room visit, an MRI, a birth. Where a real number exists in public, and hospitals are required to publish machine-readable price files, we say where to look. Where it does not, we give you the question that produces it.
What an Emergency Room Visit Actually Bills You For
One emergency room visit produces several bills: a facility fee set by acuity, a separate physician fee, and every lab and scan billed again.
What an MRI Costs in New York, and Why It Varies So Much
The same scan is priced differently at a freestanding imaging center and a hospital outpatient department. What drives the difference and how to get the number before you go.
What Childbirth Costs in New York: How the Bill Is Built
A delivery generates several separate bills — the mother's hospital account, the newborn's own account, anesthesia, and the physician. What to arrange before the due date.