Brown County Hospital
945 East Zero St, Ainsworth, NE 69210 · 94 Priced Procedures
Typical commercial prices here are +101% above the fair benchmark (2.01×) even after accounting for local nurse/doctor wages and patient complexity.
Balances commercial hospital prices against CMS clinical safety, infection control, and patient experience.
Wide Procedure Spread · Upper-Quartile Skew Pricer
Brown County Hospital prices routine shoppable procedures at 3.3× Medicare (median 1.82× Fair BaseRate) while upper-quartile commercial rates jump +45% to 2.64× Fair BaseRate. Self-pay cash discounts and comparing specific CPT procedure codes before scheduling yield the strongest savings.
Where They're Good (Patient & Payer Edge)
- Bottom-quartile procedures (Q25) price at 1.33× the peer BaseRate benchmark
- Self-pay cash beats commercial insurance on 56% of shoppable procedures (97/100 Cash Honesty)
- CMS clinical safety score (69/100 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)
- Outpatient surgery & OR suites carry a 1.7× markup over Medicare rates
- Commercial insurance median sits at 1.82× Fair BaseRate (3.3× Medicare), so insured patients should always compare the self-pay cash price before paying.
- Upper-quartile procedures (Q75 2.64×) jump +45% above the median procedure ratio (Q50 1.82×)
- Unnegotiated chargemaster list prices average 9.6× Medicare (27¢ true HCRIS cost per $1 gross)
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 Brown County Hospital
High-impact clinical procedures (MRIs, surgeries, inpatient stays, visits) are prioritized first. Use the category pills or search bar to filter all 94 published procedures.
| Procedure & Billing Code | This Hospital | vs. Fair |
|---|---|---|
| CT scan, pelvis CPT Code: 72192 | $1,984 | 12.2× |
| CT scan, abdomen and pelvis (with contrast) CPT Code: 74177 | $2,000 | 4.5× |
| CT scan, head (with and without contrast) CPT Code: 70470 | $1,923 | 7.5× |
| MRI, brain (with and without contrast) CPT Code: 70553 | $1,921 | 3.8× |
| Sleep study (overnight, in lab) CPT Code: 95810 | $1,933 | 1.9× |
| CT scan, head (with contrast) CPT Code: 70460 | $1,782 | 7.4× |
| Knee arthroscopy with meniscus repair CPT Code: 29881 | $1,695 | 0.5× |
| MRI, brain (no contrast) CPT Code: 70551 | $1,629 | 4.7× |
| CT scan, abdomen and pelvis (no contrast) CPT Code: 74176 | $1,600 | 5.3× |
| MRI, lower back (no contrast) CPT Code: 72148 | $1,552 | 4.6× |
| Gallbladder removal (laparoscopic) CPT Code: 47562 | $1,415 | 0.2× |
| MRI, knee or other leg joint CPT Code: 73721 | $1,234 | 3.3× |
| CT scan, chest (no contrast) CPT Code: 71250 | $1,098 | 6.6× |
| CT scan, lower back (lumbar spine) CPT Code: 72131 | $1,060 | 6.3× |
| CT scan, neck (cervical spine) CPT Code: 72125 | $1,063 | 6.3× |
| CT scan, sinuses CPT Code: 70486 | $1,018 | 6.1× |
| Cataract surgery with lens implant CPT Code: 66984 | $1,038 | 0.4× |
| Echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) CPT Code: 93306 | $981 | 1.7× |
| CT scan, head (no contrast) CPT Code: 70450 | $936 | 5.8× |
| Colonoscopy with biopsy CPT Code: 45380 | $956 | 0.8× |
| Upper endoscopy with biopsy CPT Code: 43239 | $830 | 0.8× |
| Blood transfusion CPT Code: 36430 | $789 | 1.6× |
| Colonoscopy (diagnostic) CPT Code: 45378 | $749 | 0.8× |
| Ultrasound, leg veins (duplex) CPT Code: 93970 | $698 | 2.6× |
| Ultrasound, abdomen (complete) CPT Code: 76700 | $457 | 3.4× |
Audit a Bill or Quote at Brown County 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.
Self-Pay Cash Rate ($1,984) Beats Your Bill
Brown County Hospital's published 45 CFR § 180 self-pay cash rate is $1,984 (vs. $1,984 commercial insurer median). Ask billing to reclassify the visit to prompt-pay self-pay if it beats your deductible.
Negotiate Toward $163 Fair BaseRate ($107 Medicare)
Your bill ($2,645) is $2,482 above the denoised Fair BaseRate ($163) and 24.7× the $107 Medicare rate.
Financial Assistance Policy (FAP) & Amounts Generally Billed (AGB)
Public IRS & CMS ownership records classify Brown County 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
Source: CMS Hospital Care Compare. 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 Brown County Hospital.
Notable Payer Contract Outliers (SVD Matrix Anomalies)
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.