What an emergency room visit costs: United States vs. other countries
A visit to a hospital emergency department.
What an emergency room visit costs in the United States and six other wealthy countries: the price paid to the hospital, what a patient usually pays, and the typical wait, each with its source. Prices come from different official sources and are labelled with what they cover.
| Country | Price paid to the hospital | What a patient usually pays | Typical wait |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $2,453 (Peterson-KFF) | $646 on average (Peterson-KFF) | Median 16 minutes to see a clinician (CDC) |
| Canada | $304 in Canadian dollars, not converted: the average cost to the hospital of one emergency visit in 2018-19 (CIHI) | No charge for medically necessary hospital and doctor care (Commonwealth Fund) | Half of patients saw a doctor in just under 2 hours (CIHI) |
| United Kingdom | £116 to £574 for an emergency visit, depending on the tests and treatment: the set price paid to a hospital in England (NHS England) | No charge. NHS care is free when you use it (Commonwealth Fund) | 76.9% of visits finished within 4 hours (England) (NHS England) |
| France | €30.10 to €51.40 for the visit, depending on age, plus supplements such as €34.66 when X-rays are taken: set payments to a public hospital (ATIH) | A flat fee of €23 per emergency visit (FHF) | Half of patients spent more than 3 hours in the emergency department from arrival to leaving (2023 survey day) (DREES) |
| Germany | €15.29 by day or €24.84 at night and on weekends: the emergency flat fee in the statutory insurance schedule. Tests and treatment are paid on top (KBV) | Co-payments are capped at 2% of gross income a year (Commonwealth Fund) | Not yet sourced |
| Japan | ¥2,910: the national first-visit fee. After-hours visits add ¥850 to ¥4,800, and tests and treatment are paid separately (MHLW Japan) | 30% of the bill for most adults, with a monthly cap (Commonwealth Fund) | Not yet sourced |
| Australia | Not yet sourced | No charge in a public hospital (Commonwealth Fund) | 67% of patients were seen within the time recommended for how urgent their case was (public hospitals) (Productivity Commission) |
Where no sourced figure exists, the cell says so. We do not fill gaps with estimates.