# Spinal fusion, lower back (hospital stay): what Independence Blue Cross pays, by state

The whole hospital stay for a lower-back spinal fusion, without major complications.

- Insurer: Independence Blue Cross
- Billing code: 460 (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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware | 2 | $34,258.82 | $35,411.35 | $36,563.88 | $37,716.41 | $38,868.94 | $32,778.88 | 1.1x Medicare |
| New Jersey | 20 | $10,867.00 | $63,988.73 | $92,401.25 | $100,285.76 | $183,712.28 | $36,872.79 | 2.5x Medicare |
| Pennsylvania | 54 | $21,316.00 | $53,561.17 | $58,737.86 | $75,143.83 | $106,089.77 | $32,283.93 | 1.8x 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/independence/statemap_460_US.html  
About this insurer's data, and its other procedures: [index.md](index.md)