# Neck spinal fusion (hospital stay): what Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina pays, by state

The whole hospital stay for a cervical (neck) spinal fusion, without complications.

- Insurer: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina
- Billing code: 473 (Hospital stays (inpatient))
- Price shown: negotiated in-network price, hospital stay, facility fee
- Prices as of: 2026-09-15
- All of the insurer's plans pooled; the map also shows single networks

| State | Providers | Lowest | 25th pct | Median | 75th pct | Highest | Medicare pays | Median vs Medicare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 1 | $23,602.49 | $23,602.49 | $23,602.49 | $23,602.49 | $23,602.49 | $16,110.44 | 1.5x Medicare |
| North Carolina | 151 | $1,297.93 | $23,163.05 | $29,705.74 | $38,855.73 | $53,393.67 | $21,865.80 | 1.4x Medicare |

**“x Medicare”** compares each price with what original Medicare actually paid hospitals in the same state for the same kind of stay in 2024, the newest year it has published: the average per stay, the patient’s share included, at hospitals with more than ten such stays. Medicare’s payment varies by hospital (wages, teaching, low-income patients), so this is a state average, not any one hospital’s rate. Insurers write their contracts as a share of Medicare, so 1.3x means the insurer pays 30% more than Medicare would; Medicare Advantage plans generally pay close to 1.0x.

Prices are what the insurer has agreed to pay, not what you will be billed. This is a statewide summary: prices vary far more between towns and between practices than these medians suggest, and "providers" counts everyone with a contracted price, not only those who perform the procedure.

Map: https://medicalpricetransparency.netlify.app/insurers/bcbsnc/statemap_473_US.html  
About this insurer's data, and its other procedures: [index.md](index.md)