# Neck spinal fusion (hospital stay): what Sentara Health Plans pays, by state

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

- Insurer: Sentara Health Plans
- Billing code: 473 (Hospital stays (inpatient))
- Price shown: negotiated in-network price, hospital stay, facility fee
- Prices as of: 2026-10-01
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tennessee | 4 | $24,243.18 | $29,010.85 | $30,810.49 | $34,776.24 | $42,044.00 | $17,290.35 | 1.8x Medicare |
| Virginia | 41 | $13,222.00 | $25,352.00 | $35,724.00 | $44,337.50 | $86,505.00 | $21,957.67 | 1.6x 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/sentara/statemap_473_US.html  
About this insurer's data, and its other procedures: [index.md](index.md)