Emergency Room Cost Estimator
Estimate what an ER visit will cost — before or after you go. Based on real hospital pricing data from CMS, not guesswork.
🏥 Estimate Your ER Costs
Select the level that best describes your situation
💰 Compare: ER vs Urgent Care vs Telehealth
| Venue | Typical Cost | Wait Time |
|---|
🏥 Hospitals with ERs in Your State
Showing hospitals with emergency services and their typical ER charges
🤔 Should I Go to the ER?
🚨 Go to the ER
- Chest pain or difficulty breathing
- Signs of stroke (face drooping, arm weakness, speech difficulty)
- Severe bleeding that won't stop
- Head injury with loss of consciousness
- Severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis)
- Compound fracture (bone through skin)
- Seizures
- Suicidal thoughts or overdose
✅ Urgent Care May Be Better
- Minor cuts needing stitches
- Sprains and minor fractures
- Ear or sinus infections
- Mild allergic reactions
- UTIs, rashes, mild fevers
- Back pain without numbness
- Minor burns
- Flu symptoms (non-emergency)
When in doubt, go to the ER. Under the prudent layperson standard, if a reasonable person would think it's an emergency based on symptoms, insurance must cover the ER visit — even if it turns out not to be life-threatening.
No Surprises Act — Your ER Protections
Since January 2022, federal law protects you from surprise bills for emergency services. Here's what you need to know:
- ER visits are covered at in-network rates regardless of which hospital you go to
- You cannot be balance billed for emergency services, even at out-of-network hospitals
- Protections apply to both the facility fee and any provider who treats you during the ER visit
- Applies to air ambulance services from out-of-network providers
- You can't be asked to waive these protections for emergency care
- Post-stabilization care is also protected until you can safely be transferred
If you receive a surprise bill from an ER visit, you have the right to dispute it. The provider and your insurer must resolve the payment through an independent dispute resolution process — not on your back.
How This Works
This tool pulls real negotiated ER rates from CMS hospital pricing data. ER visits are billed using CPT codes 99281–99285, corresponding to severity levels 1 (minor) through 5 (critical). We query median negotiated rates across hospitals in your state that report emergency services.
The total cost of an ER visit typically includes: facility fee (what the hospital charges), physician fee (the doctor who sees you), and any labs, imaging, or procedures performed. Our estimate covers the facility fee component, which is usually 60–70% of the total bill.
Uninsured estimates use gross charges (chargemaster rates), which are typically 2–4× higher than negotiated rates. However, most hospitals are required to offer financial assistance — ask about charity care and payment plans.
Urgent care and telehealth comparisons use national averages from published healthcare cost studies. Actual costs vary by location and provider.