Residential mental health treatment cost in DE
What a residential mental health treatment costs at DE hospitals — and the fair price to aim for.
Typical commercial prices here are 36% below the fair benchmark (0.64×) after accounting for local nurse/doctor wages and patient complexity.
Balances commercial hospital prices against CMS clinical safety, infection control, and patient experience.
Uniform Value Leader · Low-Cost Across Departments
This hospital maintains low, disciplined commercial pricing across both routine shoppable procedures (0.7× Medicare, p50 0.80× Fair BaseRate) and emergency/ancillary services (0.9× Medicare, p75 0.94× Fair BaseRate). Both insured and self-pay patients benefit from below-benchmark rates across departments.
Where They're Good (Patient & Payer Edge)
- Elective shoppable care is priced 20% below peer Fair BaseRate (0.80×)
- Self-pay cash beats commercial insurance on 2% of shoppable procedures (25/100 Cash Honesty)
- CMS clinical safety score (54/100 safety score) with 72% patient recommendation
- Binding Good Faith Estimate rights under 45 CFR § 149.610 protect self-pay patients before scheduling
Where You Can Get Burned (Markup Traps)
- Even at low-cost facilities (0.64× Fair BaseRate), out-of-network or unnegotiated chargemaster bills can exceed commercial medians — confirm in-network status or request a self-pay cash quote up front.
- Captive ER (1.0×) & laboratory (1.7×) services average 1.29× higher multiples than routine shoppable care (0.7×)
- Upper-quartile procedures (Q75 0.94×) jump +17% above the median procedure ratio (Q50 0.80×)
- Consolidated metro market (HHI 2,500) limits in-network hospital competition (Moderately Concentrated (1,500–2,500))
Pre-scheduled outpatient procedures where patients can comparison-shop.
Emergency, inpatient DRG, lab, and specialty drug lines billed after admission.
Detects median-gaming when upper-quartile codes spike above the p50 median.
In general, DE hospitals charge about the fair price for this. how we calculate the BaseRate →
Compared with the rest of the country, DE’s fair BaseRate ($287) is below the national fair price of $339.
Cheapest DE hospitals for a residential mental health treatment
Audit a Bill or Quote at DE Hospital Benchmark (Zero PHI Required)
Statutory 501(r) AGB Cap Limits Bill to $227
At 274% FPL (201%–400% FPL tier), 26 U.S.C. § 501(r)(5) caps FAP-eligible bills at Amounts Generally Billed (36.3% of gross = $227).
Compare Prompt-Pay Cash Rate Against Remaining Deductible
Ask DE Hospital Benchmark's billing desk for their written 45 CFR § 180 discounted self-pay cash price and Good Faith Estimate under the No Surprises Act.
Negotiate Toward $287 Fair BaseRate ($166 Medicare)
Your bill ($624) is $337 above the denoised Fair BaseRate ($287) and 3.8× the $166 Medicare rate.