self-pay

1 of 2

adjective

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 How to pronounce self-pay (audio) ; 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
The system is mostly publicly funded through taxpayer dollars, with some aspects of the system requiring self-pay or coinsurance. Devika Rao, theweek, 5 Apr. 2024 The company added about 131,000 new self-pay subscribers in the quarter, leading to a year-end total of about 34 million, but lost 445,000 self-pay subscribers across the full year. Caitlin Huston, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Feb. 2024 As of the end of 2023, Sirius’ self-pay subscriber base stood at more than 31.9 million, with its total users standing at nearly 33.9 million. Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Feb. 2024 The satellite radio giant lost 445,000 self-pay subscribers for the full year, however. Glenn Peoples, Billboard, 1 Feb. 2024 But the deepest risk of the rise in self-pay patients, according to Chris Thomas, principal health fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research, a progressive think tank, is not to the health service’s operations, but to its political underpinnings. Stephen Castle, New York Times, 9 Dec. 2023 The company ended September with around 6.1 million total self-pay customers at Pandora. SiriusXM, however, recorded quarterly advertising revenue in its Pandora and Off-Platform unit of $418 million, up 3 percent from the year-ago period and up 5 percent over the second quarter of 2023. Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 Oct. 2023 At its Pandora streaming business, the company added 7,000 net self-pay subscribers in the second quarter of 2023, compared with a year-ago loss of 9,000. Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Aug. 2023 Permits can be purchased in-person at the launching sites either with on-site personnel or at self-pay stations, or online. Drew Dawson, Journal Sentinel, 27 July 2023
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

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'self-pay.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1932, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Verb

1990, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of self-pay was in 1932

Dictionary Entries Near self-pay

Cite this Entry

“Self-pay.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/self-pay. Accessed 17 Jun. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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