US vs China healthcare — price and speed, compared.
There's an alternative to not getting care at all. Compare verified US prices with China cash estimates for the top 100 procedures Americans travel for — with sources and dates on every number.
100 of 100 procedures now have a US figure — 97 verified cash ranges and 3 labelled reference prices (1 published market estimate, 2 editorial planning estimates) — each sourced and dated on its card. China prices are estimates sourced from DeepSeek (Nov 6, 2026). The 3 reference prices are bundles no one sells as a single published price — eye exam + glasses ($400), radiation consult ($647), prenatal screening ($600) — and those cards show the labelled figure with its scope. We do not invent prices.
Verified Hospitals
Our hospital partners are being verified. Verified hospital profiles, including accreditation, doctors, and prices, will appear here.
Patient Stories
Patient stories are being collected. Real stories with procedure, country, and date will appear here.
Trip calculator — how much could you save?
Pick one or more procedures and a city — add each procedure you need (for example, a scan, then surgery), and the procedure row adds them together. Type in the procedure box to search the A–Z list. Flights are auto-estimated from published fare bands (change the figure if you have your own quote); hotel rates are researched nightly averages by star tier; miscellaneous is a $100 flat allowance. The table shows three totals side by side — Budget (3-star), Standard (4-star) and Premium (5-star). On a phone, each tier is shown as its own card.
Add a procedure to see the three-tier estimate.
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Formula (per tier): China total = sum of selected China procedure estimates (low–high) + optional general anesthesia + optional hospital stay (nights × daily rate) + flights (auto-estimated band, or your figure) + hotel nightly rate × nights + $100 miscellaneous (transit + food, flat). Savings vs US = summed US price range − China total — shown only where a US price exists for every selected procedure (100 of 100 procedures). All figures are estimates, not quotes.
Sources, checked Nov 7, 2026: hotel nightly rates are Trip.com weekday averages from its latest 12-month data, by star tier; flight bands are round-trip economy planning bands from KAYAK, Expedia, Priceline, Cheapflights and Mighty Travels route pages (best-sourced US hub: Los Angeles), checked Nov 4–7, 2026. The $100 miscellaneous figure is a flat allowance set by this site, not a researched price. General anesthesia: public-hospital fee schedules (provincial 医保局), per case with a 2-hour base — intubated ¥976–¥1,600 (~$146–$239), non-intubated ¥400–¥640 (~$60–$96); no published private-hospital anesthesia price exists. Hospital stay: public ward bed ¥29–¥120/day (typical tier-1 multi-bed ¥48–¥60, ~$7–$9); private room ¥6,998/day (~$1,046) from Beijing United Family Hospital's published Common Service Price List (updated Jan 1, 2026). Anesthesia and hospital-stay prices checked Nov 7, 2026, at ¥6.69 = $1. Not included in the totals: the Chinese visa fee — $140 for a US citizen (Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles, fee schedule in force to Dec 31, 2026). Shenzhen 5-star note: Trip.com's $418/night average is well above the Agoda / KAYAK / BudgetYourTrip consensus of roughly $120–$175, so treat the Shenzhen Premium total as the high end.
Fully verified comparisons
United States
Knee MRI, no contrast (CPT 73721): median cash $1,855, middle 80% $584–$4,863.
Head CT, no contrast: median cash $1,200, range $442–$3,299. With contrast: $1,427.
China
Knee MRI, public, per body part: ¥400–700 (Shenzhen ¥505, Guangzhou ¥628.52).
Head CT, public: ¥250 (about $37), range ¥231–286. Private/international: ¥1,800–15,600.
Knee MRI, verified → Head CT, verified → Wait times, verified →
Sources on the procedure pages. Last checked Nov 6, 2026.
Browse by category
Featured China estimates
China cash estimates from DeepSeek via Billy, Nov 6, 2026. Every card says so. US figures are now shown on all 100 procedure cards — 97 verified cash ranges and 3 labelled reference prices.
Single dental implant
per tooth
C · Sourced from DeepSeek, via Billy · Last checked Nov 6, 2026 · Estimate only, not a quote
US cash: $3,000 – $6,000 per tooth · B · CoveredUSA / FAIR Health · Last checked Nov 6, 2026
LASIK (femto-LASIK)
both eyes
C · Sourced from DeepSeek, via Billy · Last checked Nov 6, 2026 · Estimate only, not a quote
US cash: $1,500 – $3,500 per eye · B · All About Vision · Last checked Nov 6, 2026
ACL reconstruction
C · Sourced from DeepSeek, via Billy · Last checked Nov 6, 2026 · Estimate only, not a quote
US cash: $7,931 – $26,137 per knee · B · Surgery Center of Oklahoma · Last checked Nov 6, 2026
Coronary stent (PCI)
C · Sourced from DeepSeek, via Billy · Last checked Nov 6, 2026 · Estimate only, not a quote
US cash: $11,000 – $45,000 per procedure · B · CostHelper · Last checked Nov 6, 2026
PET-CT cancer screening
per scan
C · Sourced from DeepSeek, via Billy · Last checked Nov 6, 2026 · Estimate only, not a quote
US cash: $1,323 – $4,525 per scan · B · ThePricer (updated Sep 19, 2026) · Last checked Nov 6, 2026
MRI (brain / spine / joint) cash
per body part
C · Sourced from DeepSeek, via Billy · Last checked Nov 6, 2026 · Estimate only, not a quote
US cash: $250 – $2,200 per body part · B · ThePricer, citing MDsave (updated 2026-08-16) · Last checked Nov 6, 2026
Hospitals by city
We have verified 12 hospitals across 5 cities — see the list below. No hospital is quoted yet: no hospital publishes a per-procedure price list, and they quote per case after a records review.
