How much does an ER visit cost?
There is no national price for an emergency room visit that this site can date and cite: Medicare's national outpatient price lookup does not cover it, and no free national price for it with a date of its own could be found. So the prices below are what named hospitals publish, including the price each will accept from a patient paying cash. An emergency room bills the visit at one of five levels, CPT 99281 to 99285, set by how complex the visit turned out to be, and each level has its own price. For the highest level, 99285, Franklin Memorial Hospital publishes a facility charge of $1,141.75 in its file dated 9 September 2025, Boston Medical Center publishes $2,494.00 with a cash price of $1,122.30 in its file dated 13 March 2026, and The University of Chicago Medical Center publishes $5,099.00 in its file dated 1 April 2026. For the lowest level, 99281, Franklin Memorial Hospital publishes $331.65. The emergency doctor is billed separately, and so is every test, scan and drug given during the visit.
$1,141.75
CPT 99285, the highest ER level, facility charge at one hospital, list and cash alike
$2,494.00 list, $1,122.30 cash
the same level at a second hospital on 13 March 2026
$5,099.00
the same level at a third hospital, list and cash alike, on 1 April 2026
Cost breakdown
Each table below comes from one source, named underneath it, with the date that source last revised the figures. Everything is a United States figure in USD.
ER visit levels at Franklin Memorial Hospital, from its file last updated 9 September 2025
| Level and CPT | Facility charge | Emergency doctor, professional charge |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1, 99281 | $331.65 | $101.15 |
| Level 2, 99282 | $413.90 | $152.35 |
| Level 3, 99283 | $558.05 | $245.35 |
| Level 4, 99284 | $920.70 | $448.85 |
| Level 5, 99285 | $1,141.75 | $669.90 |
ER visit levels at Boston Medical Center, from its file last updated 13 March 2026
| CPT | Description, as the file prints it | Gross charge | Cash price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 99281 | HC Emergency Department Visit That May Not Require the Presence of a Physician or Other Qualified Health Care Professional | $987.00 | $444.15 |
| 99282 | HC Emergency Department Visit Which Requires a Medically Appropriate History and/or Examination and Straightforward Medical Decision Making | $1,120.00 | $504.00 |
| 99282 | Emergency Department Visit Low/Moder Severity | $167.00 | $75.15 |
| 99283 | HC Emergency Department Visit Which Requires a Medically Appropriate History and/or Examination and Low Level of Medical Decision Making | $1,446.00 | $650.70 |
| 99283 | Emergency Department Visit Moderate Severity | $272.00 | $122.40 |
| 99284 | HC Emergency Department Visit Which Requires a Medically Appropriate History and/or Examination and Moderate Level of Medical Decision Making | $2,111.00 | $949.95 |
| 99285 | HC Emergency Dept Visit Which Requires a Medically Appropriate History and/or Examination and High Level of Medical Decision Making | $2,494.00 | $1,122.30 |
ER visit levels at The University of Chicago Medical Center, from its file last updated 1 April 2026
| CPT | Description, as the file prints it | Gross charge | Plan rates, the file's minimum to maximum |
|---|---|---|---|
| 99281 | Hc Emergency Room Problem Focused Visit | $806.00 | $58.72 to $131.03 |
| 99281 | Hc Emergency Room Elopement- Mse Performed | $383.00 | the same entry |
| 99282 | Hc Emergency Department Evaluation And Management Level 2 | $991.00 | $99.82 to $238.58 |
| 99283 | Hc Emergency Department Evaluation And Management Level 3 | $2,477.00 | $223.13 to $424.17 |
| 99284 | Hc Emergency Department Evaluation And Management Level 4 | $4,274.00 | $346.44 to $648.36 |
| 99285 | Hc Emergency Department Evaluation And Management Level 5 | $5,099.00 | $543.14 to $925.36 |
A bar for each row of the table above, 5 of them, drawn to the same scale so the spread is visible at a glance. The figure beside each bar is the one the table prints.
What changes the price
- The level the visit is billed at
- This is set after the visit by how complex it was, and it is the largest difference on the page. At Franklin Memorial Hospital the facility charge runs from $331.65 at level 1 to $1,141.75 at level 5. At The University of Chicago Medical Center it runs from $806.00 for a problem-focused level 1 visit to $5,099.00 at level 5.
- Which hospital
- Level 5 is $1,141.75 at Franklin Memorial Hospital, $2,494.00 at Boston Medical Center and $5,099.00 at The University of Chicago Medical Center, each as the list price in its own dated file.
- The emergency doctor
- The physician is a separate charge. Franklin Memorial Hospital publishes the professional charge for a level 5 visit at $669.90, on top of the $1,141.75 facility charge.
- Whether anyone is paying on your behalf
- Boston Medical Center publishes a cash price below list on every level, at $1,122.30 for level 5. Franklin Memorial Hospital and The University of Chicago Medical Center publish the same figure for cash as for list.
- Whether you have insurance
- The University of Chicago Medical Center publishes $5,099.00 as its list price for level 5, and its file gives the rates agreed with plans for the same level a minimum of $543.14 and a maximum of $925.36.
How to pay less
- Ask for the level on the bill
- The level is decided after the visit and is printed on an itemised bill as a CPT code from 99281 to 99285. Checking it against what happened is the first check worth making.
- Ask for the cash price by name
- Boston Medical Center publishes a cash price on every level, $1,122.30 against $2,494.00 at level 5. The other two hospitals here publish no discount, so ask and check the answer against the file.
- Expect two bills
- The hospital and the emergency physician usually bill separately. Franklin Memorial Hospital publishes both, and they are two different charges for the same visit.
Questions
How much is an ER visit without insurance?
Ask the hospital or clinic for its cash price before you book. Hospitals must publish a discounted cash price where they offer one, and the files quoted on this page show those prices beside the list price. With insurance, what you pay depends on your plan's negotiated rate, your deductible and your coinsurance, so ask your insurer for an estimate.
How much does an ER visit cost?
It depends on the level the visit is billed at, from CPT 99281 to 99285. At level 5, Franklin Memorial Hospital publishes a facility charge of $1,141.75, Boston Medical Center $2,494.00 and The University of Chicago Medical Center $5,099.00, each in its own dated and attested file. The doctor and any tests are billed on top.
How much is an ER visit without insurance?
That is the cash price where a hospital publishes a lower one. Boston Medical Center does, at $1,122.30 for a level 5 visit and $444.15 for level 1. Franklin Memorial Hospital and The University of Chicago Medical Center publish the same figure for cash as for list.
How much is an ER visit with insurance?
Your share of what your plan has agreed with the hospital. The University of Chicago Medical Center publishes plan rates for each level; for level 5 its file prints a minimum of $543.14 and a maximum of $925.36, against a list price of $5,099.00.
Is the doctor included in the ER price?
No. Franklin Memorial Hospital publishes the emergency physician as a separate professional charge, $669.90 at level 5 against a facility charge of $1,141.75.
What decides the ER level?
How complex the visit was: the examination needed and the level of medical decision making, which is how the level 2 to 5 descriptions in Boston Medical Center's file are worded. It is set once the visit is over.
Why does a hospital have to publish this?
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services requires every hospital operating in the United States to publish a comprehensive machine-readable file of all items and services and a consumer-friendly display of shoppable services, states that it audits a sample of hospitals and investigates complaints, and states that hospitals may face civil monetary penalties for noncompliance.
Where these figures come from
Every figure here is published by the hospital named beside it, in US dollars, in the United States, in its own machine-readable standard charges file under 45 CFR 180.50, and each file carries the attestation that the information encoded is true, accurate and complete as of the date in the file. The dates are the ones the files give themselves: 13 March 2026 for Boston Medical Center, attested by Christopher Abate, 9 September 2025 for Franklin Memorial Hospital, attested by Kenneth Olsen, and 1 April 2026 for The University of Chicago Medical Center, attested by Chris Allen. All three files were downloaded again before this page was written, and each was byte-identical to the copy read on 25 September 2026. BEFORE ANY CODE WAS QUOTED, THE DISTINCT PUBLISHED PRICES FOR IT WERE COUNTED PER CODE AND PER BILLING CLASS. Where a code carries more than one price, at Boston Medical Center for levels 2 and 3 and at The University of Chicago Medical Center for level 1, every price is shown and none is chosen. Plan rates are what a plan pays the hospital, not what a patient owes, and their minimum and maximum are the fields each file prints. Nothing here is added into a total, averaged or restated as a typical cost, and three hospitals are three hospitals rather than a national picture.