Frequently Asked Questions

All pricing data comes from CMS Hospital Price Transparency files. Since January 1, 2021, hospitals have been required by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to publish their standard charges in machine-readable files. We parse these files at scale, covering 380,000+ healthcare facilities and over 588 million price records.

The data reflects what hospitals themselves have published. We validate data quality through cross-referencing, outlier detection, and format normalization. However, hospitals may update their files at different frequencies, and some prices may be outdated or contain errors from the source files.

We continuously ingest new and updated price transparency files. Most hospitals update their files quarterly or annually. Our ingestion pipeline runs regularly to capture these updates.

Yes. When hospitals publish payer-specific negotiated rates, we include those alongside cash/self-pay prices. We also integrate Transparency in Coverage data from major insurers when available.

Yes, CarePrices.ai is completely free for consumers. We believe healthcare pricing information should be accessible to everyone.

You can search by procedure name (like "MRI" or "colonoscopy"), CPT code, or simply describe what you need in plain English using our AI assistant. Enter your zip code to see nearby facilities and their prices.

The cash price (also called gross charge or self-pay rate) is what the hospital charges patients who don't use insurance. Negotiated rates are the discounted prices insurance companies have negotiated with the hospital. Negotiated rates are typically lower, but your actual out-of-pocket cost depends on your plan's deductible, copay, and coinsurance.

Absolutely. Knowing what other facilities charge for the same procedure gives you leverage. Many patients have successfully negotiated lower prices by referencing published rates at nearby hospitals. You can also use our data to decide whether a different facility might save you money.

CarePrices.ai is built by Care Decisions Labs, a healthcare data company founded in 2025. Our mission is to end information asymmetry in healthcare pricing.

We sustain our operations through advertising and data licensing partnerships. The consumer comparison tool remains free.

No. We don't sell any personal data. See our privacy policy for details on how we handle information.