Objective The aim of the study was to analyze hospital costs for cancer inpatients availing different methods of payment and the influencing factors, to provide inputs to improve the medical insurance payment policy. Methods We analyzed the information related to length of hospital stay, hospitalization cost, and self-pay cost, collected from one large-scale, Grade A, Class Three hospital in Shenyang, China, during 2004–2013.Results The number of cancer inpatients with different payment types(medical insurance group and non-medical insurance group) presented a rising trend. Further, the ratio of medical insurance inpatients increased rapidly(from 22.2% to 48.7%); however, this group was still a minority. The length of hospital stay became shorter(21 d vs. 17 d; P = 0.000) while the gap got narrower; the hospitalized expense showed an upward trend and the difference was remarkable($24048.6 ± $4376.28 vs. $20544.36 ± $4057.01; P = 0.000). Conclusion Along with normalization of cancer therapy, the influence of payment on treatment has been getting weak, the policy has impact on controlling hospitalization cost, lightening burden of cancer patient, as well as allocating medical resources in a reasonable way, becoming an important defray pattern of hospitalization cost. Objective The aim of the study was to analyze hospital costs for cancer inpatients availing different methods of payment and the influencing factors, to provide inputs to improve the medical insurance payment policy. Methods We analyzed the information related to length of hospital stay, hospitalization costs, and self-pay costs, collected from one large-scale, Grade A, Class Three hospital in Shenyang, China, during 2004-2013. Results The number of cancer inpatients with different payment types (medical insurance group and non-medical insurance group) The length of hospital stay became shorter (21 d vs. 17 d; P = 0.000) while the gap got narrower; the hospitalized expense showed an upward trend and the difference was remarkable ($ 24048.6 ± $ 4376.28 vs. $ 20544.36 ± $ 4057.01; P = 0.000). Conclusion Along with normalization of cancer therapy, the influence of payment on treatment has been getting weak, the policy has impact on controlling hospitalization cost, lightening burden of cancer patient, as well as allocating medical resources in a reasonable way, an an defray pattern of hospitalization cost.