Spinal fusion except cervical, with MCCMS-DRG 459Orthopedics

Median commercial negotiated rate by hospital, from each hospital's own disclosure file. The same procedure spans a 2.6× price range across 18 Colorado hospitals. Open in the explorer → — filter by insurer or region, map it, or compare hospitals side by side.

How to read “% of Medicare” Medicare’s payment is a hospital-specific benchmark built from CMS files — adjusted for local wages and case complexity, and roughly pegged to the cost of care. A commercial rate at 300% means a private plan pays about triple that benchmark for the same care at the same hospital. The gap is negotiation, not quality. Full methodology →
Median commercial negotiated rate Medicare benchmark
$59,531
$128,375
$131,684
$139,199
$143,589

The part you don’t feel

St Michael Medical Center $156,204vsIsland Hospital $59,531 what you pay what your plan pays
Deductible not metearly in the plan year
St Michael Medical Center
Island Hospital
$96,672you feel all of it
Deductible met20% coinsurance
St Michael Medical Center
Island Hospital
$19,334$77,338 invisible to you
Out-of-pocket max reacheda bad year, or a big surgery
St Michael Medical Center
Island Hospital
$0the market goes blind

The gap is $96,672 in every row. The only thing that changes is how much of it reaches the person choosing. Nobody hid the price — the deductible structure hides the difference, and a difference nobody feels is a difference nobody shops. Illustration uses a 20% coinsurance plan with no separate facility or professional bill; your own plan governs.

Detail (click headers to sort, or “why” for cost vs price)

HospitalCommercial medianMedicare% of MedicareEst. cost*Plan rows
Island Hospital$59,531$51,127116%—1
Multicare Valley Hospital$87,593$51,127171%—5
Skagit Valley Hospital$90,308$51,127177%$55,7213
Yakima Valley Memorial$95,648$51,127187%—4
Deaconess Medical Center$95,704$51,127187%—5
St Elizabeth Hospital$128,375$51,127251%—3
St Clare Hospital$131,684$51,127258%—4
St Joseph Medical Center$131,684$51,127258%—4
St Francis Community Hospital$131,684$51,127258%—4
Highline Medical Center$133,201$51,127261%—3
Virginia Mason Medical Center$136,771$51,127268%—6
St Anthony Hospital$139,199$51,127272%—4
Multicare Auburn Medical Center$139,890$51,127274%—5
Multicare Good Samaritan Hospital$139,890$51,127274%—5
Tacoma General Allenmore Hospital$139,890$51,127274%—5
Multicare Covington Medical Center$139,890$51,127274%—5
Capital Medical Center$143,589$51,127281%—5
St Michael Medical Center$156,204$51,127306%—2

*Cost estimates use hospital-level cost-to-charge ratios from federal cost reports and are approximate; ~ marks categories (imaging, labs) where they are least precise. "Plan rows" is how many distinct plan rates the hospital published; medians over more rows are sturdier.
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Rexroad Analytics · Data: hospital machine-readable files (45 CFR 180, schema v3.0) retrieved September 16, 2026; Medicare benchmarks from CMS claims data and fee schedules; cost estimates from FY2026 CMS cost-report ratios, labeled as estimates. Not medical, legal, or benefits advice. Full methodology → · The American Healthcare Conundrum →