Where the money on a travel contract goes
A hospital pays the staffing company an hourly bill rate for your work. A share goes to the vendor management system the hospital uses, and the rest covers your wages and stipends, employer taxes and insurance, compliance, and the agency's own overhead and margin. The biggest difference between agencies is overhead, and that is what moves your pay.
Reviewed October 14, 2026
The bill rate
Facilities pay an hourly bill rate for every hour you work, usually with higher rates for overtime and holidays. Most hospitals buy travel staff through a vendor management system (VMS) or managed service provider (MSP), which takes a fee from the bill rate before the agency is paid.
Bill rates are usually confidential under those VMS contracts, which is why agencies do not publish them. What you can compare is the pay each agency offers on the same job.
What the rest pays for
- Your taxable wage and your stipends
- Employer payroll taxes: Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance
- Workers' compensation and professional liability insurance
- Health, dental and vision benefits
- Compliance: drug screens, background checks, license and certification verification, health records
- Travel reimbursement, where the contract pays it
- The agency's overhead and margin
Where agencies differ
Most of that list costs every agency about the same. Taxes and insurance are set by law and by carriers, and stipends are set by GSA rates. The part that varies is overhead: how many recruiters, account managers and salespeople stand between the contract and your paycheck, and what they are paid.
Bypass is run by Magnet Medical with software and a small operations team instead of a large recruiter floor. The lower cost of placing you is passed through as pay, and every listing shows Bypass pay next to the standard agency package for the same job.
Quick answers
What is a bill rate in travel nursing?
The hourly rate a facility pays the staffing company for a traveler's work. It covers the traveler's pay and stipends, employer taxes, insurance, compliance, any VMS fee, and the agency's overhead and margin.
Why won't my agency tell me the bill rate?
Bill rates are usually confidential under the facility's contract with its vendor management system. Comparing what different agencies pay on the same job gets you the same answer.
What is a VMS in healthcare staffing?
A vendor management system is the platform a hospital uses to post travel jobs to many agencies and manage them. The VMS charges a fee, typically taken out of the bill rate.