Updated April 2026
Acute Care - Veterans Administration
132 acute care - veterans administration report a Medicare total-payment average of $16,120, with an average CMS Hospital Compare star rating of 4.2. Under the HospitalCostData Value Score the cohort runs 28% A and 0% F.
The acute-care category is the default for general U.S. hospital care. 132 are in our dataset.
Acute-care hospitals are the focus of most cross-hospital comparison: the CMS Hospital Compare star rating, the Medicare DRG payment system, and most quality-measure programs are designed around this category. Comparisons within the category are reliable; cross-category comparisons are not.
About Acute Care - Veterans Administration
Acute Care Hospitals are short-stay general hospitals — the backbone of the US inpatient system. They handle the full range of medical and surgical admissions and account for the bulk of Medicare DRG payments.
Hospital type is one of the most important contextual filters for any Medicare cost comparison because the underlying payment system varies. Acute-care hospitals are paid under IPPS DRG weights; rehabilitation, psychiatric, long-term-care, and children's facilities each operate under different CMS prospective payment systems. The acute care - veterans administration cohort spans 132 hospitals, large enough that averages reflect the segment but small enough that high-volume outliers can move the mean noticeably.
Cost Picture for Acute Care - Veterans Administration
Average payments for acute care - veterans administration prices out close to the national Medicare baseline, within roughly 2% of the national average. That puts it in the broad middle band of US hospital reimbursement — typical of community and regional facilities away from the most expensive metros.
Average payments alone do not capture the patient experience. For most patients, the relevant figures are the negotiated commercial rate or cash-pay rate published in each hospital's machine-readable file under the CMS Hospital Price Transparency Rule. Medicare data tells the federal-payer story; commercial rates can run materially higher.
Quality Distribution Within Acute Care - Veterans Administration
CMS Hospital Compare measures are not uniformly applicable across hospital types. Acute-care facilities report the full set of mortality, readmission, and patient-experience measures; specialty hospitals (children's, psychiatric, rehab, LTCH) report a narrower set. The cohort average star rating of 4.2 should be read with that caveat.
For deeper review, the CMS Care Compare site publishes hospital-specific measure detail. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Patient Safety Indicators and Inpatient Quality Indicators feed many of the underlying measures and are useful for comparing acute-care facilities.
All Acute Care - Veterans Administration
Frequently Asked Questions
What are acute care - veterans administration?
Acute Care Hospitals are short-stay general hospitals — the backbone of the US inpatient system. They handle the full range of medical and surgical admissions and account for the bulk of Medicare DRG payments.
How many acute care - veterans administration are in this cohort?
132 Medicare-participating acute care - veterans administration are tracked in the current dataset. The acute care - veterans administration cohort spans 132 hospitals, large enough that averages reflect the segment but small enough that high-volume outliers can move the mean noticeably.
What does acute care - veterans administration reimbursement look like under Medicare?
Average Medicare total payment across the cohort is $16,120. Average payments for acute care - veterans administration prices out close to the national Medicare baseline, within roughly 2% of the national average. That puts it in the broad middle band of US hospital reimbursement — typical of community and regional facilities away from the most expensive metros.
Are quality measures comparable across hospital types?
Not always. CMS Hospital Compare measures are tuned to general acute-care hospitals; specialty categories (children's, psychiatric, rehabilitation, long-term care) report different measure sets. Average CMS star rating in this cohort is 4.2, but direct cross-type comparisons should be made carefully.
Where does the hospital-type classification come from?
Hospital type is reported during Medicare certification and published in the CMS Provider of Services file and on Care Compare. We use the CMS-reported value verbatim.
Other Hospital Types
3,116 hospitals · Avg payment $16K
1,376 hospitals · Avg payment $14K
633 hospitals · Avg payment $17K
94 hospitals · Avg payment $17K
39 hospitals · Avg payment $14K
32 hospitals · Avg payment $18K
See the methodology page for hospital-type sourcing and CMS payment-system context.
Sources & Citations
- CMS Medicare Inpatient Hospital Payments (IPPS). DRG-level average covered charges, total payments, and Medicare payments per facility. data.cms.gov
- CMS Hospital Compare (Care Compare). Star ratings, mortality, readmission, safety-of-care, and patient-experience measures. medicare.gov/care-compare
- CMS Hospital Price Transparency Rule. Standard charge files required from every Medicare-participating hospital. cms.gov/hospital-price-transparency
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). National benchmarks, quality indicators, and clinical context for hospital outcome measures. ahrq.gov
Dataset last refreshed: April 2026. Underlying CMS files are public domain. Suggested citation: “HospitalCostData, hospitalcostdata.com, accessed July 9, 2026.”
This page is informational only and does not constitute medical, legal, or financial advice. Care decisions should be made with a licensed physician.
Source: CMS Hospital Price Transparency, 2026.