Carteret General Hospital
3500 Arendell St, Morehead City, NC 28557 · 81 Priced Procedures · 69% Patient Recommendation
Typical commercial prices here are 11% below the fair benchmark (0.89×) after accounting for local nurse/doctor wages and patient complexity.
4-Star CMS clinical quality rating paired with 0.89× fair market pricing.
Uniform Value Leader · Low-Cost Across Departments
Carteret General Hospital maintains low, disciplined commercial pricing across both routine shoppable procedures (1.0× Medicare, p50 0.93× Fair BaseRate) and emergency/ancillary services (1.0× Medicare, p75 0.96× 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 11% below peer Fair BaseRate (0.89×)
- Self-pay cash beats commercial insurance on 35% of shoppable procedures (25/100 Cash Honesty)
- 2-Star CMS clinical rating with 69% patient recommendation (67/100 safety score)
- Binding Good Faith Estimate rights under 45 CFR § 149.610 protect self-pay patients before scheduling
Where You Can Get Burned (Markup Traps)
- Outpatient surgery & OR suites carry a 1.2× markup over Medicare rates
- Commercial insurance median sits at 0.93× Fair BaseRate (1.0× Medicare), so insured patients should always compare the self-pay cash price before paying.
- Even at low-cost facilities (0.89× 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.
- Consolidated metro market (HHI 10,000) limits in-network hospital competition (Highly Concentrated Monopoly (>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.
Procedure Prices at Carteret General Hospital
High-impact clinical procedures (MRIs, surgeries, inpatient stays, visits) are prioritized first. Use the category pills or search bar to filter all 81 published procedures.
Audit a Bill or Quote at Carteret General Hospital (Zero PHI Required)
Above Standard 400% FPL Financial-Assistance Ceiling
At 274% FPL, you exceed the standard 400% FPL tier, though medical-hardship caps (when bills exceed 10% of annual income) may still apply.
Compare Prompt-Pay Cash Rate Against Remaining Deductible
Carteret General Hospital's published 45 CFR § 180 self-pay cash rate is $57,613 (vs. $15,336 commercial insurer median). Ask billing to reclassify the visit to prompt-pay self-pay if it beats your deductible.
Negotiate Toward $17,936 Fair BaseRate ($12,807 Medicare)
Your bill ($57,613) is $39,677 above the denoised Fair BaseRate ($17,936) and 4.5× the $12,807 Medicare rate.
Financial Assistance Policy (FAP) & Amounts Generally Billed (AGB)
Public IRS & CMS ownership records classify Carteret General Hospital as a non-501(c)(3) facility. Federal 26 U.S.C. § 501(r) statutory charity-care caps apply specifically to tax-exempt nonprofit hospitals, though state hospital fair-pricing statutes and prompt-pay self-pay discounts may still apply.
Clinical Quality, Patient Experience & Infection Benchmarks
Healthcare-Associated Infections (CDC NHSN / CMS HAI)
1.00 SIR = National Predicted Baseline (Lower Is Safer)Source: CMS Hospital Care Compare (347 completed HCAHPS patient surveys). Clinical quality metrics summarize historical facility-wide cohorts and are not medical advice for individual care decisions.
How to Pay Less Nearby: Freestanding Centers, Insurer Leverage & Outpatient Savings
2D regional comparison of commercial negotiated price index against CMS clinical quality composite for Carteret General Hospital.
Verify the Raw Data: Official Hospital MRF, CMS Medicare.gov & Federal Filings
Safe-Harbor Data Corrections: Parsed directly from public 45 CFR § 180 hospital filings, CMS Care Compare, and CMS HCRIS cost reports. Hospital compliance officers may submit updated MRF URLs or rate tables for verification.