# Heart valve surgery with catheterization (hospital stay): what BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee pays, by state

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

- Insurer: BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee
- Billing code: 216 (Hospital stays (inpatient))
- Price shown: negotiated in-network price, hospital stay, facility fee
- Prices as of: 2026-09-27
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 3 | $110,034.62 | $112,935.45 | $116,264.02 | $121,967.33 | $122,758.91 | $85,746.00 | 1.4x Medicare |
| Arkansas | 1 | $91,833.18 | $95,896.79 | $103,815.06 | $128,870.31 | $184,344.87 | $65,565.16 | 1.6x Medicare |
| Georgia | 1 | $175,475.23 | $175,475.23 | $175,475.23 | $175,475.23 | $175,475.23 | $87,443.28 | 2.0x Medicare |
| Mississippi | 3 | $91,833.18 | $103,815.06 | $117,999.60 | $153,630.56 | $195,633.50 |  |  |
| Tennessee | 97 | $74,733.08 | $114,356.36 | $135,925.70 | $173,611.82 | $805,258.77 | $83,272.56 | 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/bcbstn/statemap_216_US.html  
About this insurer's data, and its other procedures: [index.md](index.md)