How MedTea works

The short version: we read what hospitals already publish, add the parts they leave out, and tell you plainly which bits we're sure about.

We start with the hospital's own numbers Hospitals are required by federal law to publish what they've agreed to accept from each insurer. Those files are public, enormous and close to unreadable. We read them so you don't have to, the prices you see are the hospital's own published figures, not an estimate we invented.

Then we add what that file leaves out A hospital's price list only covers the hospital. The surgeon, the anaesthetist, the lab and the radiologist all bill you separately, and none of them appear in that file. We work out who else is going to bill you and, where the information exists, roughly what they charge.

We check who actually does it Which clinicians perform the procedure where you're going, where they trained, how long they've been doing it, and how often. Volume isn't a quality score, and we never present it as one, but it's worth knowing.

And what happened to people before you What patients said about the place afterwards, and how often things go wrong there compared with everywhere else in the country. We show you the gap against the national figure, because a number on its own tells you nothing.

Then we tell you what we don't know This is the part most price sites skip. Every figure is labelled with how solid it is, exact, an estimate, a stand-in, or simply unavailable. Where a number would be misleading we say so instead of showing it. You should be able to tell at a glance how much weight a number will bear.

What this isn't

It isn't a quote, and it isn't medical advice. Prices change, plans differ, and your own circumstances change what you'll owe. Treat MedTea as the thing that tells you which questions to ask before you book, then confirm the numbers with the hospital and your insurer.

Medical costs can be steep,
get the inside scoop.

How MedTea Works

Brewing your estimate…

How MedTea works

What this isn't

MedTea was built by a real person. Me.

We're people, and the data is messy

Medical costs can be steep, get the inside scoop.

How MedTea Works

Brewing your estimate…

How MedTea works

What this isn't

MedTea was built by a real person. Me.

We're people, and the data is messy

Medical costs can be steep,
get the inside scoop.