Editorial policy

State Surgery Costs publishes original research and explainer content about U.S. healthcare pricing. Trust is the foundation of everything we publish, so we hold every article to the standards described below.

Our principles

• Independence. We do not accept payment from hospitals, providers, or insurers in exchange for editorial coverage.
• Accuracy. Every cost figure must be traceable to a named, dated public source.
• Transparency. Each article lists its author, medical reviewer, sources, and last-updated date.
• Plain language. We translate billing codes, insurance jargon, and clinical terminology into language a patient can actually use.

How we source pricing data

We aggregate cost information from sources including:

• CMS (Medicare) Hospital Price Transparency disclosures
• CMS Physician Fee Schedule and APC payment files
• State all-payer claims databases (where public)
• Hospital chargemaster files required under federal regulation
• FAIR Health consumer cost lookup
• Peer-reviewed health-economics literature
• HHS, AHRQ, and KFF research reports

Where ranges differ across sources, we explain the methodology and note which figures reflect cash pay vs. negotiated insurance rates.

Medical review

Every clinical or procedural article is reviewed by a licensed U.S. clinician (MD, DO, NP, PA, or RN) appropriate to the specialty before publication. Reviewers check for clinical accuracy, safety, and appropriate scope. Their name and credentials appear on the published article.

Updates and freshness

Healthcare prices change. We review every cost article at least annually, and immediately whenever new pricing data, CMS rules, or major insurer policy changes warrant it. The "Last updated" date on each article reflects the most recent substantive revision.

Corrections

If you believe an article contains a factual error, email editorial@statesurgerycosts.com. We investigate every report and post a dated correction note at the top of any article we revise.

Use of AI

We use AI tools to assist with research, data extraction from publicly available pricing files, and first-draft generation. Every article is reviewed and edited by a human editor and, where clinical, by a licensed medical reviewer before publication. We do not publish unedited AI output.

Advertising and sponsorship

Advertising — including Google AdSense and contextual affiliate links — is clearly distinguishable from editorial content. Advertisers have no influence over what we cover, how we cover it, or our cost estimates. See our Privacy Policy for ad partner disclosures.