self-pay

1 of 2

adjective

ˈself-ˈpā 

1

: allowing customers to pay for goods or services without assistance (as by using a payment kiosk)

a self-pay parking garage

self-pay gas stations

2

: making payment (as of a medical bill) with one's own money rather than money from another source (such as a health insurance company)

Self-pay patients who are uninsured will typically pay roughly 25 to 40 percent of the total price for ER visits—so the larger the charge, the larger the out-of-pocket bill.

—Anna Wolfe

: relating to or involving payment (as of a medical bill) with one's own money

self-pay treatments/procedures

the hospital's self-pay options

The increase in insurance deductibles and self-pay portions of costs for outpatient services …

—Pamela Sherrod

… the hospital said the MRI price in the survey was too high. But it would not disclose what it said would be the self-pay price.

—Anna Werner

self-pay

2 of 2

verb

self-paid ˈself-ˈpād  ; self-paying; self-pays

transitive verb

: to pay (something, such as a medical bill) with one's own money rather than money from another source (such as a health insurance company)

The average person cannot afford to self-pay for bariatric surgical procedures …

—Neil Hutcher

Examples of self-pay in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

SiriusXM added approximately 149,000 self-pay subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2024, an increase of 18,000 compared to the year-ago period. —Caitlin Huston, The Hollywood Reporter, 30 Jan. 2025

On a positive note, Sirius XM’s monthly self-pay subscriber churn rate remains stable at 1.6%, aligning with its historical trends. —Trefis Team, Forbes, 13 Jan. 2025

However, the self-pay monthly churn rate remained stable at 1.6% for the quarter, indicating that existing subscribers are being retained at a consistent rate. —Trefis Team, Forbes, 17 Dec. 2024

The company focuses on providing minimally invasive body contouring procedures and highlights its reliance on self-pay patients for revenue. —Quartz Bot, Quartz, 8 Nov. 2024

The vials are available for self-pay through a Lilly program called LillyDirect, which facilitates access to doctors and shipping of medicines to patients. —Meg Tirrell, CNN, 9 Oct. 2024

For the Pandora and Off-Platform business, the company had 6 million self-pay subscribers, losing 41,000 in Q2. —Trefis Team, Forbes, 16 Sep. 2024

The company ended June with just below 6.0 million total self-pay customers at Pandora. SiriusXM, led by CEO Jennifer Witz, also recorded quarterly advertising revenue in its Pandora and Off-Platform unit of $528 million, up 2 percent over the year-ago period. —Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Aug. 2024

The current self-pay price for the LDT version of the test is $895. —Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 29 July 2024

Verb

The cost for the procedure at the University of Maryland Medical Center ranges from $28,000 to $30,000 for patients like Carlson who self-pay, according to a spokeswoman for the medical center. —Angela Roberts, Baltimore Sun, 2 Mar. 2023

Vasectomy services are available at Planned Parenthood for insurance or self-pay, and there are no grants or financial aid available, officials say. —Stephanie Innes, The Arizona Republic, 1 Mar. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1932, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Verb

1990, in the meaning defined above