How we price — transparency

We would rather show "not yet verified" than a made-up number. This page is the full record.

Sources

• China cash estimates (100 procedures): DeepSeek, via Billy, Nov 6, 2026, translated to English. Exchange rate ¥6.69 = $1 (rate updated Nov 5, 2026), amounts rounded. These are estimates, not hospital quotes. Items marked "(est.)" were inferred by DeepSeek from similar procedures.
• US knee MRI (CPT 73721, no contrast): median cash $1,855, middle 80% $584–$4,863, from SelfPayRates compiled from hospitals' own price-transparency files (2,960 hospitals), checked Nov 5, 2026. Medicare $243.77.
• US head CT (no contrast): median cash $1,200, range $442–$3,299; with contrast median $1,427. Checked Nov 2026.
• China knee MRI (verified): public plain MRI per body part ¥400–700 (Shenzhen ¥505, Guangzhou ¥628.52).
• China head CT (verified): public ¥250 (about $37), range ¥231–286; private/international ¥1,800–15,600.
• Wait times: Episode 3 research — see the wait-times page. US: 31 days to see a doctor, prior auth 1–14 days, order-to-scan 18.5 days (one large system), 97% read same day, report 1–3 days. China: same-day doctor, scan in 1–5 days, CT 10–15 min / MRI 20–45 min, images often same day, written report 2–3 working days. S2 visa 5–10 days.
• US cash prices, first 30 procedures (#1–30): researched Nov 6, 2026 from FAIR Health Consumer data (via CoveredUSA and clinic pages), CareCredit / Synchrony ASQ360°, Surgery Center of Oklahoma, All About Vision, NVISION, VisionCenter, Glaucoma Research Foundation, MDsave via ThePricer, Bookimed US, and named clinic fee lists. 29 of 30 have a US cash range on the site; #28 (eye exam + glasses) has no verified bundle price. Full table with sources and confidence is in the project research file us-prices-first-30.md (see NOTES.md).
• China hospital quotes (checked Nov 6, 2026): no named hospital in scope publishes a procedure price list on its own website — United Family Healthcare, Jiahui, Parkway, Raffles, PUMCH, Huashan, Zhongshan and Sun Yat-sen all quote per case after a records review. Third-party and facilitator ranges exist for some procedures, but none is presented on this site as a hospital quote. Next step is direct outreach to the hospitals' international-patient departments.
• Hospitals verified (Nov 6, 2026): 12 hospitals across 5 cities, each verified on a live page (preferably its own site) confirming an international department: Shanghai 5, Beijing 3, Guangzhou 1, Shenzhen 2, Chengdu 1 (+ 1 Parkway clinic). No prices were collected. JCI is shown only where the hospital's own site claims it.

What is verified, what is estimated, what is missing

• Verified both sides: knee MRI, head CT, wait times. Only these two procedures have a complete US-vs-China comparison with verified prices on both sides.
• US cash range verified: 29 of the first 30 procedures (#1–30, except #28 eye exam + glasses, which has no verified bundle price). Each card shows its source, last-checked date and confidence.
• China estimate only: all 100 procedures have a DeepSeek China estimate range. That is not a quote — no named hospital publishes a per-procedure price list.
• Not yet priced: US prices for procedures #31–100 (70 procedures).
• Not yet verified: wait times, days needed and what's included per procedure (except the general wait-times page); hospital international-department quotes (needs direct outreach).

Known problems in the data

• Currency not stated — resolved, figures deleted (Nov 6, 2026): total knee replacement (#31, ~14,000), total hip replacement (#33, ~13,000), shoulder arthroscopy (#35, ~7,000) and thyroidectomy (#91, ~7,500) were DeepSeek-cited international-department figures without a currency. Each number matches the edge of a widely-repeated USD range, but no discrete quote from a named hospital could be found for any of them, so per the standing rule — if it can't be verified, delete it — all four figures were removed from the site entirely. They are not replaced with range endpoints.
• China quotes: no named hospital publishes a per-procedure price list; facilitator and third-party ranges exist for some procedures but are not presented as hospital quotes. Some independent guide ranges suggest DeepSeek's figures may be high for teeth whitening (#10) and cataract surgery (#22–23) — noted in the research file, not treated as verified.
• Wide ranges: many ranges are very wide (e.g. ¥50,000–150,000). We do not invent a midpoint. The notes on each card say what pushes a price to the low or high end (domestic vs imported implant, public vs international department, robotic assistance, complexity).
• High-risk: Brazilian butt lift (#82) is high-risk and carries a clear disclaimer on its page.
• Restricted: fertility procedures (#63–72) — rules for foreign patients in China are restricted and need verification. They are not presented as straightforwardly bookable.

Still to do

• Add US cash ranges for procedures #31–100.
• Get real quotes from hospital international departments — direct outreach, since the hospitals do not publish price lists.
• Find a verified US bundle price for eye exam + glasses (#28), or leave it missing.
• Fix ranges that are too wide (add a typical midpoint only when a real quote supports it).
• Verify the remaining candidate hospitals (FAH-SYSU Guangzhou; Zhongshan, Ruijin and Renji in Shanghai; Chengdu BOE) and check JCI status against the JCI directory before publishing any JCI badge.
• Check Instagram / TikTok handles for @fixedinchina (in the apps) and set up www.fixedinchina.com.

Last checked Nov 6, 2026.