Emergency Room Visit (Level 3-4): what it covers and what it costs
What does an Emergency Room Visit (Level 3-4) cost? Across 37 major U.S. metros, the typical insurer-negotiated price for an ER Visit (CPT 99283 / 99284) runs from about $139 in Memphis, TN to $2,610 in San Jose, CA, read from hospitals' own price-transparency files. 22 of those metros have at least one hospital publishing a self-pay cash price. This page explains what the billing code covers, what the quoted price does and does not include, and what actually drives the spread between hospitals. These are price references from public data — not a quote, a bill, or medical or financial advice.
These figures are aggregated from hospitals' public price-transparency files — not a quote, a bill, an insurance benefit determination, or medical advice. Your actual out-of-pocket cost depends on your insurance plan (deductible, copay, coinsurance, network), the exact service and any complications, and which hospital you use. Always confirm price and coverage with the hospital and your insurer before care.
What an ER Visit price actually covers
An emergency department visit is billed at one of five facility levels reflecting the resources the visit consumed. Levels 3 and 4 represent moderate and moderately-high complexity and are the most common for adults.
Code scope. 99283 = level 3 (low MDM), 99284 = level 4 (moderate MDM) - the two mid/high-frequency ER levels. Since 1/1/2023, ER E/M levels are selected by medical decision-making only (time is not used). Level 5 is 99285. Facility ER charges are separate from the physician's E/M.
What is — and isn't — in the price
The facility level charge covers the room, nursing and general resources — and essentially nothing else. The emergency physician bills separately. Imaging, laboratory tests, medications and procedures are all additional line items, as is any specialist consultation.
Why ER Visit prices differ so much between hospitals
The published facility price is only a floor. Two visits at the same level can differ several-fold once imaging and tests are added. The assigned level itself is determined after the visit from documentation, so it cannot be known in advance. Where the physician group is not part of the hospital, its bill arrives separately.
What else usually lands on the bill
Imaging, laboratory work, medications administered, procedures performed and specialist consultations are all separate from the facility level charge. Ambulance transport is billed by its operator, and observation status, if the stay extends, changes the billing category.
What to ask before you book
Treat any published ER price as the facility component alone and ask what the physician, imaging and laboratory charges typically add. In an emergency, care comes first — these questions belong to the billing conversation afterwards.
Where the money actually moves
Nothing about an emergency should be delayed to compare prices. Afterwards, request an itemised bill: level assignment, duplicate charges and out-of-network physician billing are all reviewable, and hospitals are required to publish financial assistance policies.
What the ER Visit numbers show nationally
A ER Visit costs 18.8× as much in San Jose as in Memphis
Across the 37 metros priced here, the typical negotiated rate runs from $139 in Memphis, TN to $2,610 in San Jose, CA — the same billing codes, the same procedure, 1776% apart.
The individual hospitals reporting the lowest and highest ER Visit prices
Lowest: ALLIANCE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM (Memphis, TN) at $1; ARROWHEAD REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER (Riverside, CA) at $56; JOHNSON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL (Hartford, CT) at $67. Highest: GOOD SAMARITAN HOSPITAL (San Jose, CA) at $7,443; ST ANTHONY NORTH HEALTH CAMPUS (Denver, CO) at $6,126; CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER (Los Angeles, CA) at $5,134. These are the figures each hospital published in its own file, not an assessment of the care.
22 of 37 metros have a hospital publishing a self-pay ER Visit price
Cheapest published cash price: $435 (Portland). A cash price is what the hospital will accept from someone paying directly; it is not required and many never publish one.
Insurers pay about 59% below the list price for an ER Visit
Across the 31 metros publishing both, the chargemaster list price is typically 59% above what insurers negotiate. The widest gap is in Indianapolis: $3,296 list against $217 negotiated.
How many hospitals actually publish an ER Visit price
238 hospital price-file entries across 37 metros feed this page. A hospital appears only where its own file lists a rate for CPT 99283 / 99284 — where it does not, it is absent from the table rather than filled in with a guess.
ER Visit price by metro
The typical insurer-negotiated price for a ER Visit, by metro — lowest first. 22 of these 37 metros have at least one hospital publishing a self-pay cash price; 32 publish a chargemaster list price. Open a metro for its full hospital-by-hospital breakdown and who those hospitals are.
| Metro | Typical negotiated | Range | Cash | Hospitals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memphis, TN | $139 | $1–$322 | — | 3 |
| Indianapolis, IN | $217 | $139–$296 | $1,328 | 4 |
| New York, NY | $292 | $211–$622 | $3,675 | 7 |
| Detroit, MI | $314 | $160–$584 | $738 | 6 |
| Atlanta, GA | $358 | $276–$1,778 | $692 | 9 |
| Phoenix, AZ | $374 | $347–$2,813 | $1,189 | 10 |
| Orlando, FL | $382 | $378–$1,010 | — | 3 |
| Tampa, FL | $382 | $380–$953 | — | 6 |
| Baltimore, MD | $398 | $362–$476 | — | 4 |
| Raleigh, NC | $408 | $215–$408 | $911 | 3 |
| Portland, OR | $418 | $412–$1,634 | $435 | 7 |
| Hartford, CT | $467 | $67–$514 | — | 4 |
| Buffalo, NY | $524 | $409–$776 | — | 3 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | $549 | $119–$711 | $955 | 5 |
| St. Louis, MO | $599 | $410–$1,999 | $1,316 | 7 |
| Philadelphia, PA | $693 | $294–$1,034 | $681 | 15 |
| Los Angeles, CA | $711 | $465–$5,134 | — | 4 |
| Seattle, WA | $719 | $252–$1,017 | — | 8 |
| Birmingham, AL | $834 | $304–$988 | — | 10 |
| Riverside, CA | $917 | $56–$3,322 | $1,496 | 6 |
| Cleveland, OH | $979 | $430–$1,219 | $1,576 | 8 |
| Virginia Beach, VA | $1,053 | $918–$1,137 | — | 6 |
| Milwaukee, WI | $1,103 | $276–$1,393 | $1,130 | 9 |
| Chicago, IL | $1,180 | $942–$1,274 | $885 | 3 |
| Washington, DC | $1,252 | $433–$1,994 | $1,189 | 8 |
| Kansas City, MO | $1,374 | $807–$2,464 | — | 7 |
| Jacksonville, FL | $1,455 | $902–$1,597 | $1,323 | 3 |
| Houston, TX | $1,463 | $1,176–$1,852 | — | 6 |
| Dallas, TX | $1,505 | $144–$3,205 | $946 | 10 |
| Austin, TX | $1,620 | $414–$3,316 | $907 | 9 |
| Miami, FL | $1,923 | $1,245–$2,084 | — | 4 |
| San Diego, CA | $2,188 | $537–$4,264 | $2,963 | 5 |
| Nashville, TN | $2,284 | $337–$2,374 | — | 9 |
| Denver, CO | $2,359 | $1,677–$6,126 | $1,772 | 10 |
| Sacramento, CA | $2,610 | $2,610 | $2,167 | 3 |
| San Francisco, CA | $2,610 | $1,104–$2,610 | $2,167 | 7 |
| San Jose, CA | $2,610 | $672–$7,443 | — | 3 |
Source: hospitals' own machine-readable Standard Charges files, published under the U.S. Hospital Price Transparency rule (45 CFR §180.50). Most recent hospital file in this dataset: July 2026. Prices are references, not quotes or bills, and never medical or financial advice — where a hospital reports no price, nothing is shown rather than a guess.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does an ER Visit cost?
- Across 37 U.S. metros the typical insurer-negotiated price is about $834, ranging from $139 in Memphis to $2,610 in San Jose. Every figure is read from a named hospital's own price-transparency file for CPT 99283 / 99284.
- Does the price include the doctor's fee?
- The facility level charge covers the room, nursing and general resources — and essentially nothing else. The emergency physician bills separately. Imaging, laboratory tests, medications and procedures are all additional line items, as is any specialist consultation.
- Why do ER Visit prices differ so much between hospitals?
- The published facility price is only a floor. Two visits at the same level can differ several-fold once imaging and tests are added. The assigned level itself is determined after the visit from documentation, so it cannot be known in advance. Where the physician group is not part of the hospital, its bill arrives separately.