Hospital 'list prices' vary wildly in Lancaster County (PA)

In 2013, nearly 900 Medicare beneficiaries were discharged from three Lancaster County hospitals after having major joint replacement surgery. Medicare ultimately paid the hospitals — Lancaster General, Ephrata Community (now Wellspan Ephrata Community) and Lancaster Regional Medical Center — all roughly the same amount for the procedure: between $9,500 and $10,500. But the amount the hospitals had asked the federal government to pay varied wildly. At Lancaster General Hospital, the county's largest, the average billed amount was just less than $35,000. At Ephrata Community, this "average covered charge" — akin to "list price" — was $37,574.