costkits-mcp

Give Claude, ChatGPT, or any MCP client live US healthcare cost data — procedure cost estimates, provider pricing, insurance coverage rules, and medical bill analysis, grounded in real hospital transparency and CMS data instead of model priors.

A thin Model Context Protocol server for the CostKits API.

Quick start (Claude Desktop)

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json (Settings → Developer → Edit Config):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "costkits": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@costkits/costkits-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "COSTKITS_API_KEY": "ck_your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Get a free key at costkits.com/api-keys. No key yet? The server still runs — the demo_estimate tool works with no key at all, so you can verify the wiring first.

Restart Claude Desktop, then ask:

"What would a colonoscopy cost me in Connecticut if I have $500 left on my deductible and 20% coinsurance?"

Works the same with any MCP client (Claude Code, ChatGPT desktop, Cursor, ...) — see examples/claude-desktop-config.json.

Tools

Tool	What the model gets	Plan
demo_estimate	Static sample estimate — connectivity check	none
resolve_procedure	Free text → canonical procedure slug	Builder
estimate_procedure_cost	Cost range + patient out-of-pocket for a procedure/state	Builder
calculate_liability	Exact insurance math for a known allowed amount	Builder
full_estimate	Ontology + cost + providers + liability in one call	Builder
find_providers	Providers with real negotiated prices (pricing_status: observed)	Builder
get_provider	Single provider profile by NPI	Builder
list_procedures	The 30-procedure catalog with CPT codes	Builder
get_procedure_details	LLM-ready facts, billing bundle, or full ontology	Builder
get_coverage	Coverage rules by aspect: summary, prior-auth, cost-sharing, frequency, triggers	Builder (triggers: Pro)
list_carriers	Supported carrier keys — also a key sanity check	Free
analyze_bill	Anomaly flags + risk score for bill line items	Pro

Plans and pricing: costkits-api → plans-and-pricing.

Why this API behaves well in agent loops

• Self-correcting errors. Every API error carries an agent_hint ("Call GET /v1/procedures/resolve?q=... Closest matches: mri-knee, x-ray"). This server surfaces the hint to the model verbatim, so a typo'd procedure name becomes a resolve-and-retry, not a dead end.
• Ranges, sources, vintages. Responses include p25/p50/p75, data_sources, and data_vintage — everything the model needs to answer responsibly instead of confidently.
• Stateless bill analysis. analyze_bill needs only codes and amounts. Don't send names, member IDs, or birth dates; the API neither needs nor stores them.

Configuration

Env var	Required	Default	Purpose
COSTKITS_API_KEY	For all tools except demo_estimate	—	Your ck_... key
COSTKITS_API_BASE	No	https://api.costkits.com	Override for testing

Local development

git clone https://github.com/costkits/costkits-mcp && cd costkits-mcp
npm install
npm run smoke     # spawns the server and calls demo_estimate over real MCP stdio

Links

CostKits API docs & examples · costkits.com · Interactive demo · Get an API key

About CostKits

CostKits is a healthcare cost-transparency platform built and maintained by John Caruso, FSA, MAAA — a healthcare actuary with 20+ years in insurance pricing, medical billing systems, and healthcare cost analytics. This MCP server wraps the same pricing engine behind costkits.com's consumer tools. See our data & pricing methodology for how estimates are sourced.

License

MIT