DRG 281 · Cardiovascular

Heart Attack Cost in California — Compare All Hospitals

Acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) with complications — discharged alive.

State average
$57,755
gross charge · DRG 281
Hospitals
35
with published pricing
Price range
$3,070 – $115,341
low to high
Lowest $3,070 Highest $115,341

California hospitals price heart attack (Medicare DRG 281) anywhere from $3,070 to $115,341 — a $112,271 gap between the cheapest and most expensive option. The cheapest is Glenn Medical Center in Willows; the most expensive is Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas in Encinitas. The state average sits at $57,755.

Gross charges are the hospital's list price for the facility part of your stay — the room, operating-room time, nursing, and equipment. Insurance plans negotiate substantial discounts, Medicare and Medicaid pay fixed federal rates, and uninsured patients can usually qualify for a cash-pay discount. But the gross charge still works as a useful benchmark: a hospital that lists heart attack at twice the price of another typically negotiates higher rates with insurers too, and quotes more for uninsured patients.

If you're scheduling heart attack in California, sort the list below by price, then click each hospital name to see its quality profile — CMS overall star rating, surgical-safety measures, readmission rates, patient-experience scores. The cheapest hospital isn't always the right call. Teaching hospitals often charge more because they take complex cases, and a higher-rated community hospital may deliver equivalent outcomes for a straightforward case at a lower price. Use the price column to narrow the field; use the quality data to make the final call.

Pricing comes from each hospital's Machine-Readable File (MRF), published under the federal Hospital Price Transparency Rule. California hospitals missing from the list either don't perform heart attack in volume, haven't published a usable price for DRG 281 in their most recent MRF, or fell below our data-quality thresholds (we filter out clearly erroneous entries like $0 charges). The list refreshes as hospitals update their files.

What this hospital charge usually covers

The gross-charge number above is the hospital's facility bill for heart attack. Here's what's typically inside that price (typical inpatient stay: 3–5 days):

Included in the hospital bill

  • Emergency department evaluation and cardiac workup
  • Inpatient cardiac monitoring (often in a coronary care unit)
  • Diagnostic catheterization and any required stenting
  • Inpatient medications and routine labs during admission

Usually billed separately

  • Cardiologist, ED physician, and any interventional specialist professional fees
  • Ambulance transport
  • Outpatient cardiac rehab and follow-up visits after discharge
  • Long-term medications (antiplatelets, statins, beta-blockers)

Quality signals to check before picking a hospital

Price alone won't tell you which hospital does heart attack best. These are the CMS quality measures that matter most for this specific procedure. Click any hospital below for its full profile, then look for these:

Heart-Attack Mortality (30-day)

The single most important quality signal — how often patients survive 30 days after a heart attack at this hospital.

Time to Fibrinolysis (STEMI)

For ST-elevation heart attacks treated with clot-busting drugs, every minute counts. Tracks median minutes from arrival to treatment.

Heart-Attack Readmissions

Reflects discharge planning, medication reconciliation, and outpatient cardiology handoff.

When the cheapest hospital may not be the best fit

The list below sorts by price. For heart attack, the lowest price isn't automatically the best fit — these are situations where it's worth weighing additional factors against price. None of the below is medical advice; talk to your doctor about what applies to your specific situation.

Questions to ask your hospital or insurer

The gross charge is the starting point. These are the procedure-specific questions to ask before you commit:

Data notes for California

Hospitals ranked by gross charge

  1. 1

    Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center

    Los Angeles, CA

    Gross charge $0
  2. 2

    Glenn Medical Center

    Willows, CA

    Gross charge $3,070
    Cash pay $1,842
  3. 3
    Gross charge $8,947
    Cash pay $7,157
  4. 4

    Colusa Medical Center

    Colusa, CA

    Gross charge $10,929
    Cash pay $6,557
  5. 5

    Tahoe Forest Hospital

    Truckee, CA

    Gross charge $10,934
  6. 6

    Adventist Health Mendocino Coast

    Fort Bragg, CA

    Gross charge $13,365
    Cash pay $8,821
  7. 7
    Gross charge $19,408
    Cash pay $11,645
  8. 8

    El Centro Regional Medical Center

    El Centro, CA

    Gross charge $25,503
    Cash pay $17,852
  9. 9
    Gross charge $27,011
  10. 10

    Fairchild Medical Center

    Yreka, CA

    Gross charge $35,411
  11. 11

    Kaweah Health Medical Center

    Visalia, CA

    Gross charge $35,465
    Cash pay $10,500
  12. 12

    Adventist Health White Memorial Montebello

    Montebello, CA

    Gross charge $37,342
    Cash pay $3,737,811
  13. 13
    Gross charge $38,538
    Cash pay $20,425
  14. 14

    Alameda Hospital

    Alameda, CA

    Gross charge $42,393
    Cash pay $21,197
  15. 15

    Highland Hospital

    Oakland, CA

    Gross charge $42,393
    Cash pay $21,197
  16. 16
    Gross charge $42,688
    Cash pay $8,111
  17. 17

    Tri-City Medical Center (Acute Care)

    Oceanside, CA

    Gross charge $43,270
    Cash pay $25,962
  18. 18

    Barstow Community Hospital

    Barstow, CA

    Gross charge $52,092
    Cash pay $31,255
  19. 19

    Saint Agnes Medical Center

    Fresno, CA

    Gross charge $54,555
    Cash pay $35,461
  20. 20

    Riverside University Health System Medical Center

    Moreno Valley, CA

    Gross charge $57,586
  21. 21

    Sonoma Valley Hospital

    Sonoma, CA

    Gross charge $61,358
    Cash pay $42,950
  22. 22

    Natividad Medical Center

    Salinas, CA

    Gross charge $62,119
  23. 23

    Adventist Health Clear Lake

    Clearlake, CA

    Gross charge $63,618
    Cash pay $22,903
  24. 24

    Regional Medical Center

    San Jose, CA

    Gross charge $75,199
    Cash pay $52,639
  25. 25

    Eisenhower Medical Center

    Rancho Mirage, CA

    Gross charge $76,797
    Cash pay $4,434
  26. 26

    Sharp Grossmont Hospital

    La Mesa, CA

    Gross charge $83,186
    Cash pay $62,389
  27. 27

    Sharp Memorial Hospital

    San Diego, CA

    Gross charge $83,186
    Cash pay $62,389
  28. 28

    Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center

    Chula Vista, CA

    Gross charge $83,186
    Cash pay $62,389
  29. 29

    Sharp Coronado Hospital

    Coronado, CA

    Gross charge $83,186
    Cash pay $62,389
  30. 30

    San Antonio Regional Hospital

    Upland, CA

    Gross charge $89,883
    Cash pay $91,681
  31. 31

    Redlands Community Hospital

    Redlands, CA

    Gross charge $91,516
    Cash pay $21,964
  32. 32

    Adventist Health St Helena

    Saint Helena, CA

    Gross charge $105,922
    Cash pay $15,888
  33. 33

    Scripps Mercy Hospital

    San Diego, CA

    Gross charge $115,341
    Cash pay $28,835
  34. 34

    Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla

    La Jolla, CA

    Gross charge $115,341
    Cash pay $28,835
  35. 35

    Scripps Green Hospital

    La Jolla, CA

    Gross charge $115,341
    Cash pay $28,835
  36. 36

    Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas

    Encinitas, CA

    Gross charge $115,341
    Cash pay $28,835
  37. 37

    Dignity Health - Mercy General Hospital

    Sacramento, CA

    Gross charge
  38. 38

    Mad River Community Hospital

    Arcata, CA

    Gross charge
  39. 39

    Dignity Health - Memorial Hospital

    Bakersfield, CA

    Gross charge
  40. 40

    St Elizabeth Community Hospital

    Red Bluff, CA

    Gross charge
  41. 41

    Glendale Mem Hospital & Hlth Center

    Glendale, CA

    Gross charge
  42. 42

    Community Regional Medical Center

    Fresno, CA

    Gross charge
  43. 43

    Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center (Acute Care)

    Los Angeles, CA

    Gross charge
  44. 44

    St. John's Regional Medical Center

    Oxnard, CA

    Gross charge
  45. 45

    St Joseph's Medical Center of Stockton

    Stockton, CA

    Gross charge
  46. 46

    Community Hospital of San Bernardino

    San Bernardino, CA

    Gross charge
  47. 47
    Gross charge
  48. 48

    St. Francis Medical Center

    Lynwood, CA

    Gross charge
    Cash pay $9,439
  49. 49

    Marian Regional Medical Center (Acute Care)

    Santa Maria, CA

    Gross charge
  50. 50

    Northridge Hospital Medical Center (Acute Care)

    Northridge, CA

    Gross charge
  51. 51

    Valley Presbyterian Hospital

    Van Nuys, CA

    Gross charge
  52. 52

    Woodland Memorial Hospital

    Woodland, CA

    Gross charge
  53. 53

    St Bernardine Medical Center

    San Bernardino, CA

    Gross charge
  54. 54

    Dignity Health - Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital

    Grass Valley, CA

    Gross charge
  55. 55

    UCSF Health Saint Francis Hospital

    San Francisco, CA

    Gross charge
  56. 56

    Sequoia Hospital

    Redwood City, CA

    Gross charge
  57. 57

    French Hospital Medical Center

    San Luis Obispo, CA

    Gross charge
  58. 58

    Dignity Health - Dominican Hospital

    Santa Cruz, CA

    Gross charge
  59. 59

    Arrowhead Regional Medical Center

    Colton, CA

    Gross charge
  60. 60

    Dignity Health – Mercy Hospital Downtown

    Bakersfield, CA

    Gross charge
  61. 61

    Providence St. Mary Medical Center

    Apple Valley, CA

    Gross charge
  62. 62

    Loma Linda University Medical Center (Acute Care)

    Loma Linda, CA

    Gross charge
  63. 63

    Northbay Medical Center

    Fairfield, CA

    Gross charge
  64. 64

    Dignity Health - Mercy Hospital of Folsom

    Folsom, CA

    Gross charge
  65. 65

    Huntington Hospital (Acute Care)

    Pasadena, CA

    Gross charge
  66. 66

    Dignity Health – Mercy Medical Center

    Merced, CA

    Gross charge
  67. 67

    UCSF Health St. Mary's Hospital

    San Francisco, CA

    Gross charge
  68. 68

    Memorial Hospital of Gardena

    Gardena, CA

    Gross charge
  69. 69

    UCLA West Valley Medical Center

    West Hills, CA

    Gross charge
  70. 70

    Clovis Community Medical Center

    Clovis, CA

    Gross charge
  71. 71

    Adventist Health Sierra Vista

    San Luis Obispo, CA

    Gross charge
  72. 72

    Mercy San Juan Medical Center

    Carmichael, CA

    Gross charge
  73. 73

    La Palma Intercommunity Hospital (Acute Care)

    La Palma, CA

    Gross charge
    Cash pay $12,385
  74. 74

    San Dimas Community Hospital

    San Dimas, CA

    Gross charge
    Cash pay $11,549
  75. 75

    Methodist Hospital of Sacramento

    Sacramento, CA

    Gross charge
  76. 76
    Gross charge
  77. 77
    Gross charge
  78. 78

    Desert Valley Hospital

    Victorville, CA

    Gross charge
    Cash pay $12,533
  79. 79

    Cedar-Sinai Marina Del Rey Hospital

    Marina Del Rey, CA

    Gross charge
  80. 80

    Kaiser Permanente Manteca Medical Center

    Manteca, CA

    Gross charge
  81. 81

    Loma Linda University Medical Center-Murrieta

    Murrieta, CA

    Gross charge
  82. 82

    Coast Plaza Hospital

    Norwalk, CA

    Gross charge
  83. 83

    Loma Linda University Children's Hospital

    Loma Linda, CA

    Gross charge
  84. 84

    Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital

    Los Angeles, CA

    Gross charge
  85. 85

    Mountains Community Hospital

    Lake Arrowhead, CA

    Gross charge
  86. 86

    Mercy Medical Center of Mount Shasta

    Mount Shasta, CA

    Gross charge
  87. 87
    Gross charge
    Cash pay $14,523
  88. 88

    Mark Twain Medical Center

    San Andreas, CA

    Gross charge

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