# Heart valve surgery with catheterization (hospital stay): what Centene pays, by state

The whole hospital stay for major heart valve or chest surgery with catheterization, complicated cases.

- Insurer: Centene (Ambetter, Health Net, Fidelis, QualChoice)
- Billing code: 216 (Hospital stays (inpatient))
- Price shown: negotiated in-network price, hospital stay, facility fee
- Prices as of: 2026-08-31
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 1 | $59,415.48 | $59,415.48 | $59,415.48 | $59,415.48 | $59,415.48 | $89,055.26 | 0.7x 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/centene/statemap_216_US.html  
About this insurer's data, and its other procedures: [index.md](index.md)