N.J. among priciest for hospital care
Wednesday May 8, 2013, 11:26 PM
BY LINDY WASHBURN AND DAVE SHEINGOLD
STAFF WRITERS
The Record
New Jersey’s hospitals are among the highest priced in the nation, ranking second only to California’s, and they charge tens of thousands of dollars more for some of the same procedures than the top academic medical centers in New York City, according to data released Wednesday by the federal government.
Charges varied widely across the state — from $203,000 for a knee or hip replacement at a Camden hospital to $41,800 for the same procedure at Chilton Hospital in Pompton Plains, for example.
How New Jersey rates
Hospitals in New Jersey charge some of the highest fees in the nation to treat major medical conditions. The chart shows average charge per state and national average.
Most expensive states
California $66,542
New Jersey $60,900
Nevada $58,253
Arkansas $42,952
Florida $42,744
(14th) New York $33,319
Least expensive states
Maryland $12,527
West Virginia $19,344
Massachusetts $20,602
Vermont $20,667
Maine $21,413
U.S. $35,264
Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services,
Dave Sheingold/staff analysis
And two privately owned for-profit hospitals, Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center in Secaucus and Bayonne Medical Center, consistently charged prices that were among the highest in the state. In fact, Bayonne’s charges for treating heart failure, kidney and urinary tract infections, pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were the highest or second-highest of 3,000 hospitals nationwide, according to an analysis by The Record of the data released by Medicare.
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