New Tool Empowers New Yorkers to Compare Prices for Local Health Services
Price Comparison Tool Equips New Yorkers to Make Informed Health Care Decisions, While Holding Providers and Insurance Companies Accountable
December 23, 2025 — The NYC Health Department unveiled for the first time today New York City’s Health Care Price Comparison tool, equipping New Yorkers to make informed health care decisions while holding providers and insurance companies accountable. The new website allows users to find and compare prices for common health care services across New York City, whether or not they have insurance. The release of the tool follows through on local legislation introduced by City Council Member Julie Menin that also created the NYC Health Department’s Office of Healthcare Accountability.
“Affordable, high-quality health care should not be a privilege reserved for a few, but a fundamental necessity for every New Yorker,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “No one should ever have to walk into a doctor’s office unsure of what they will be charged or whether they can afford the care they need. This law puts power back in the hands of New Yorkers by delivering transparency, accountability, and peace of mind for families across our city, and builds on our administration’s ongoing work to make New York City more affordable and the best place to raise a family. Thank you to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene for building this tool expeditiously and to Councilmember Menin for her leadership in advancing health care price transparency and protecting consumers.”
“New York City faces a health care access and affordability crisis, and the harmful effects of rising health costs are overwhelmingly and unfairly shouldered by New Yorkers living in poverty and Black and Hispanic communities,” said Acting Health Commissioner Dr. Michelle Morse. “Every New Yorker deserves affordable, high-quality, trustworthy, accessible care. The ability to collect and share accurate pricing data provides a valuable resource for New Yorkers to make decisions about their physical and financial health, while bringing greater accountability and transparency for providers and insurance companies.”
“Skyrocketing health care prices have intensified our city’s affordability crisis, and bringing these excessive costs down requires real transparency and accountability,” said New York City Council Member Julie Menin. “That is why I authored legislation to create the Office of Healthcare Accountability which launched the new Health Care Price Comparison tool. This tool will empower New Yorkers to make informed, cost-conscious decisions when seeking high-quality care, while also giving policymakers and advocates the data they need to rein in exorbitant health care costs. I’m grateful to the Health Department, my City Council colleagues, and 32BJ SEIU for their steadfast efforts and advocacy.”
“The Health Department’s new price comparison tool offers New Yorkers another data point to consider as they navigate many common procedures,” said Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Suzanne Miles-Gustave. “The tool also offers people more information on insurance plans and city spending on health care. All of this is another way we as an administration have been working to make our city more affordable and livable for all that call it home.”
The Health Care Price Comparison tool allows New Yorkers to compare prices for 33 common health care services — from ankle repair to x-rays &mdsah; across hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, and imaging centers in the city. Users can also generate personalized estimates for out-of-pocket costs for in-network care with 12 of the most popular commercial plans and three Essential Plans available under the Affordable Care Act, in addition to self-pay options if the patient is uninsured. The tool is expected to be useful to patients, health care navigators and advocates, local policy makers, and watchdogs, including the media.
The release of this new tool comes at a critical time, as the growing cost of care leads many New Yorkers to delay or avoid care, or skip doses of medical prescriptions, leading to worsening health and even death. Missed or delayed health care also has economic effects, including missed work, lost wages, and lost jobs if a person becomes too sick. Because most people rely on their job for health insurance, losing employment may increase premiums, cost-sharing, out-of-pocket costs including higher deductibles, and medical debt.
Medical debt is a leading cause of bankruptcy across the country and undermines financial stability and mobility. It can affect credit scores and compel families to choose between care and rent or groceries. Nationwide, Black and Latino communities are more likely to hold medical debt than their white counterparts. This is a direct consequence of structural racism, which has artificially linked race and class in New York City and across the United States.
The health care affordability crisis will only deepen as federal policy changes go into effect in the coming years, significantly increasing the number of New Yorkers who are under- or uninsured. The new price comparison tool comes as Washington lawmakers consider the expiration of enhanced subsidies for health insurance premiums. Without affordable insurance coverage, New Yorkers will need better information about health care costs, which tools like this can provide.
In 2023, the City Council unanimously passed the landmark Healthcare Accountability and Consumer Protection Act (Local Law 78), introduced by lead sponsor City Council Member Menin. Under this law, the NYC Health Department collects and shares information on key health care accountability topics, including city spending on city employee health care, hospital community benefit spending, and hospital and payer price transparency data. In accordance with the law, the Health Department developed the tool in partnership with Turquoise Health, a leading price transparency company in the health care industry that focuses on making prices simple for patients, providers, payers, life sciences, and employers. Today’s announcement builds on the Health Department’s previous work including the city’s partnership with Undue Medical Debt, which helped cancel nearly $135 million in medical debt for over 75,000 New Yorkers.
“Patients deserve to know what health care costs up-front,” said Turquoise Health Co-Founder and CEO Chris Severn. “By partnering with the NYC Health Department to launch this new platform, we are accelerating progress toward a world where financial transparency in health care is no longer a barrier. We're delighted to see tangible momentum toward a patient-centered health care system that finally makes knowing the cost of care easy.”
“You only have to spend a minute or two on the price comparison tool to see the value of receiving care from NYC Health + Hospitals,” said Marji Karlin, NYC Health + Hospitals Chief Revenue Officer. “New Yorkers trust the high-quality care they receive at our clinics and hospitals, and we are proud to take care of all New Yorkers without exception.”
“When you have a healthcare affordability crisis borne out of egregiously high hospital prices that continue to rise, it is critical that we are able to see how prices differ from hospital to hospital,” said Manny Pastreich, President of 32BJ SEIU. “We are enormously proud of the work that we have done with Council Member Menin and the administration to fight for a more accountable and transparent healthcare system through passage of Local Law 78. The pricing information brought to light in this tool will be crucial for patients and purchasers like the 32BJ Health Fund.”
The prices listed in the Health Care Price Comparison tool are for informational purposes and are not guaranteed by the NYC Health Department or Turquoise Health. Final out-of-pocket costs may vary based on insurance coverage, any discounts, and the specific care received.
For New Yorkers who cannot afford health care and do not have insurance, see the NYC Care program, which guarantees low- and no-cost services for residents who do not qualify for or cannot afford health insurance.
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MEDIA CONTACT: PressOffice@health.nyc.gov