Standard Charges and Price Transparency

Standard Charges

A hospital’s standard charges document is a comprehensive list of all the billable services and items provided by a hospital. Our standard charges capture the costs of each procedure, service, supply, prescription drug, and diagnostic test provided at the hospital, as well as any fees associated with services, such as equipment fees and room charges. It also includes payer-specific negotiated charges. Because hospitals operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, standard charges can contain thousands of services and related charges.

Standard charges are almost never billed to a patient or received as payment by a hospital. These are the rates negotiated with insurance companies, Medicare, or MassHealth. These payers then apply their reimbursement terms or contracted rates to the services that are billed. If a patient co-payment, co-insurance, or deductible is owed, these too are most often not based on standard charges amounts but rather the payment terms determined by the insurer or government program.

  • Standard Charges: As required by the federal government (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services), we publish information (a comprehensive machine-readable file) about the rates negotiated with insurance companies for all services and items offered by our hospital. This file is listed below and available for download.
  • Shoppable Services: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Price Transparency rule requires that hospitals provide cost information on 300 “shoppable” items per hospital. This file is listed below and available for download.

Files last updated on 1/1/2025.

More Information

We are committed to helping patients understand their costs when receiving care at Emerson. The best way to learn about the pricing of care is to reach out directly to us and your insurance carrier. If you would like more information about what your care might cost you or for details on Emerson Hospital’s financial assistance policy, please contact our Financial Services office at 978-287-3432 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

In addition, you can use this online tool to get a cost estimate: 
patientsimple.com/emersonhospital.

Your health plan can also help you to understand your insurance coverage, which charges will be covered, how much you will be billed, information on deductibles, and your expected out-of-pocket responsibility.

Estimates

You have the right to receive a “Good Faith Estimate” explaining how much your Healthcare will cost.

Under the law, health care providers need to give patients who do not have certain types of healthcare coverage or who are not using certain types of healthcare coverage an estimate of their bill for healthcare items and services before those items or services are provided.

  • You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for the total expected cost of any healthcare items or services upon request or when scheduling such items or services. This includes related costs like medical tests, prescription drugs, equipment, and hospital fees.
  • If you schedule a healthcare item or service at least 3 business days in advance, make sure your healthcare provider or facility gives you a Good Faith Estimate in writing within 1 business day after scheduling. If you schedule a healthcare item or service at least 10 business days in advance, make sure your healthcare provider or facility gives you a Good Faith Estimate in writing within 3 business days after scheduling. You can also ask any healthcare provider or facility for a Good Faith Estimate before you schedule an item or service. If you do, make sure the healthcare provider or facility gives you a Good Faith Estimate in writing within 3 business days after you ask.
  • If you receive a bill that is at least $400 more for any provider or facility than your Good Faith Estimate from that provider or facility, you can dispute the bill. You may do so by either contact:

    For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate, visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises/consumers, email FederalPPDRQuestions@cms.hhs.gov, or call 800-985-3059.

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