Behavioral health day program cost in WI
What a behavioral health day program costs at WI hospitals — and the fair price to aim for.
Typical commercial prices here are +333% above the fair benchmark (4.33×) 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
Richland Hospital prices routine shoppable procedures near 0.7× Medicare (p50 0.85×) while skewing captive emergency, lab, and upper-quartile codes to 1.1× Medicare (p75 0.99×, +16% 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 18% below peer Fair BaseRate (0.82×)
- Self-pay cash beats commercial insurance on 38% of shoppable procedures (93/100 Cash Honesty)
- 1-Star CMS clinical rating with 69% patient recommendation (68/100 safety score)
- IRS 501(c)(3) charity care provides free care up to 200% FPL and discounted care up to 400% FPL (37.8% AGB cap)
Where You Can Get Burned (Markup Traps)
- Even at low-cost facilities (4.33× 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 (0.6×) & laboratory (2.9×) services average 1.57× higher multiples than routine shoppable care (0.7×)
- Upper-quartile procedures (Q75 0.99×) jump +16% above the median procedure ratio (Q50 0.85×)
- Unnegotiated chargemaster list prices average 10.9× Medicare (17¢ 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, WI hospitals charge above the fair price — worth shopping around here. how we calculate the BaseRate →
Compared with the rest of the country, WI’s fair BaseRate ($151) is above the national fair price of $96.
Cheapest WI hospitals for a behavioral health day program
- Richland Hospital · Richland Center $77
- Unitypoint Health - Meriter · Madison $113
- Fort Memorial Hospital · Fort Atkinson $137
- Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center · La Crosse $143
- Bellin Memorial Hospital · Green Bay $204
- Upland Hills Health · Dodgeville $433
- Bellin Health Oconto Hospital · Oconto $506
- Columbus Community Hospital · Columbus $563
- Gundersen Boscobel Area Hospital and Clinics · Boscobel $699
- Gundersen St Josephs Hospital and Clinics · Hillsboro $817
- Gundersen Moundview Hospital and Clinics · Friendship $897
Audit a Bill or Quote at WI Hospital Benchmark (Zero PHI Required)
Statutory 501(r) AGB Cap Limits Bill to $377
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 = $377).
Compare Prompt-Pay Cash Rate Against Remaining Deductible
Ask WI 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 $151 Fair BaseRate ($88 Medicare)
Your bill ($1,039) is $888 above the denoised Fair BaseRate ($151) and 11.8× the $88 Medicare rate.