Prices at 5 hospitals in Saint Louis, MO, from their machine-readable files. Here the median cash price is $3,402 — 60% above the US median ($2,125), roughly 14.3× the Medicare rate.
Lowest cash prices
| Hospital | Location | Cash | Insurer | CMS rating | ER wait | Readmit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercy Hospital St Louis | Saint Louis, MO | $1,692 | $1,711 | ★ 4/5 | 220 min | — |
| Christian Hospital Northeast | Saint Louis, MO | $3,006 | $3,758 | ★ 4/5 | 217 min | — |
| Missouri Baptist Medical Center | Saint Louis, MO | $3,402 | $3,537 | ★ 5/5 | 262 min | — |
| St Louis Childrens Hospital | Saint Louis, MO | $8,817 | $3,514 | — | — | — |
| Mercy Hospital South | Saint Louis, MO | $16,467 | $2,047 | ★ 2/5 | 254 min | — |
CMS rating = overall hospital star rating (1–5); ER wait = median minutes in the emergency department; Readmit = 30-day readmission rate (lower is better) — all from Medicare’s Care Compare; “—” = not reported. Data last updated October 2026. Prices from hospitals’ machine-readable files (45 CFR §180); Medicare benchmark from CMS PFS/CLFS/IPPS. Prices below 15% of the median are excluded as likely partial or mis-coded charges. Estimates — confirm with the hospital. Report an incorrect price.
Price comparison (median)
Typical cash price here is $3,402 — about 14.3× the Medicare rate ($238). High vs Medicare. A fair cash price is usually within ~2× Medicare ($476).
💡 Asking for the cash price instead of the $5,670 list price could save about $2,268 (40%).
Rough estimate from this procedure’s median insurer-negotiated rate. Your actual cost depends on your plan — confirm with your insurer.
Doctors who perform this in Saint Louis
Clinicians who reported the most Medicare volume for this service locally. This reflects Original Medicare activity only and is a volume signal, not a quality ranking.
| Clinician | Specialty | Location | Medicare services |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amir Ata Rahnemai Azar, MD | Diagnostic Radiology | Saint Louis, MO | 39 |
| Bruno Maranhao, MD | Critical Care (Intensivists) | Saint Louis, MO | 37 |
| Phillip Copper, M.D. | Anesthesiology | Saint Louis, MO | 36 |
| Rocco Hueneke, MD | Anesthesiology | Saint Louis, MO | 36 |
| Michael Bethel, MD | Anesthesiology | Saint Louis, MO | 35 |
| Hanish Sampath Kumar | Critical Care (Intensivists) | Saint Louis, MO | 34 |
| Paul Zanaboni, MD | Anesthesiology | Saint Louis, MO | 32 |
| Ziyan Song, MD | Anesthesiology | Saint Louis, MO | 32 |
| Stephanie Kim, MD | Interventional Radiology | Saint Louis, MO | 32 |
| Lewis Griffith, ACNP | Nurse Practitioner | Saint Louis, MO | 31 |
| Mark Willingham, MD | Anesthesiology | Saint Louis, MO | 31 |
| Thomas Graetz, MD | Anesthesiology | Saint Louis, MO | 31 |
All Central line placement prices in Missouri → · All Central line placement prices (national) · All hospitals in Saint Louis