Behavioral health assessment cost in NY
What a behavioral health assessment costs at NY hospitals — and the fair price to aim for.
Typical commercial prices here are +52% above the fair benchmark (1.52×) even after accounting for local nurse/doctor wages and patient complexity.
Balances commercial hospital prices against CMS clinical safety, infection control, and patient experience.
Loss-Leader / Captive Ancillary Cross-Subsidizer
Maimonides Medical Center prices routine shoppable procedures near 0.9× Medicare (p50 1.12×) while skewing captive emergency, lab, and upper-quartile codes to 1.4× Medicare (p75 1.21×, +8% upper-tail jump). Patients scheduling elective outpatient care can capture competitive rates, but emergency and ancillary bills require strict line-item auditing.
Where They're Good (Patient & Payer Edge)
- Elective shoppable care is priced 6% below peer Fair BaseRate (0.94×)
- Self-pay cash beats commercial insurance on 6% of shoppable procedures (25/100 Cash Honesty)
- 2-Star CMS clinical rating with 62% patient recommendation (53/100 safety score)
- IRS 501(c)(3) charity care provides free care up to 200% FPL and discounted care up to 400% FPL (21.0% AGB cap)
Where You Can Get Burned (Markup Traps)
- Even at low-cost facilities (1.52× 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 (0.9×) & laboratory (0.9×) services average 1.56× higher multiples than routine shoppable care (0.9×)
- Even at low-cost facilities (1.52× 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.
- Unnegotiated chargemaster list prices average 4.0× Medicare (22¢ 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.
In general, NY hospitals charge about the fair price for this. how we calculate the BaseRate →
Compared with the rest of the country, NY’s fair BaseRate ($211) is above the national fair price of $148.
Cheapest NY hospitals for a behavioral health assessment
- Maimonides Medical Center · Brooklyn $90
- New York Community Hospital of Brooklyn, Inc. · Brooklyn $90
- Healthalliance Hospital Marys Avenue Campus · Kingston $108
- Nassau University Medical Center · East Meadow $109
- Kaleida Health · Buffalo $136
- Westfield Memorial Hospital Inc · Westfield $140
- Samaritan Hospital of Troy, New York · Troy $152
- St Peter's Hospital · Albany $152
- Sisters of Charity Hospital · Buffalo $155
- Montefiore St Luke's Cornwall · Newburgh $156
- Kenmore Mercy Hospital · Kenmore $156
- Mount St. Mary's Hospital & Health Center · Lewiston $156
- Mercy Hospital of Buffalo · Buffalo $158
- Brooks-Tlc Hospital System, Inc · Dunkirk $160
- Samaritan Medical Center · Watertown $161
Audit a Bill or Quote at NY Hospital Benchmark (Zero PHI Required)
Statutory 501(r) AGB Cap Limits Bill to $208
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 = $208).
Compare Prompt-Pay Cash Rate Against Remaining Deductible
Ask NY 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 $211 Fair BaseRate ($122 Medicare)
Your bill ($574) is $363 above the denoised Fair BaseRate ($211) and 4.7× the $122 Medicare rate.