Code 00142. Medicare covered 1,702,334 of these. Here is what providers billed and what Medicare allowed, state by state.
Providers in Foreign Country billed the most for this, at $1,536.60. In Guam the average was $202.40. Same procedure code, same programme.
These are Medicare figures. The billed column is what providers asked for. The allowed column is what Medicare agreed to pay. Neither is what an uninsured patient gets charged, and neither is what a private insurer negotiates.
The gap between the two columns is the point. A hospital billing three times what Medicare allows tells you the billed number was never a price. It was an opening position.
| State | Billed | Medicare allowed | Gap | Services |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foreign Country | $1,536.60 | $104.31 | 14.7x | 155 |
| Arizona | $1,281.21 | $107.05 | 12.0x | 35,051 |
| New York | $1,233.88 | $97.32 | 12.7x | 95,244 |
| Texas | $1,177.75 | $85.22 | 13.8x | 130,859 |
| Wisconsin | $1,131.52 | $86.34 | 13.1x | 26,040 |
| Armed Forces Europe | $1,092.44 | $114.22 | 9.6x | 155 |
| New Jersey | $1,021.92 | $106.08 | 9.6x | 44,836 |
| Illinois | $1,006.63 | $98.80 | 10.2x | 63,964 |
| New Mexico | $973.80 | $102.12 | 9.5x | 10,469 |
| Maryland | $964.03 | $112.12 | 8.6x | 39,036 |
| North Carolina | $961.60 | $71.39 | 13.5x | 65,417 |
| California | $955.30 | $122.27 | 7.8x | 130,515 |
| Florida | $921.31 | $100.58 | 9.2x | 113,239 |
| Virginia | $914.10 | $82.55 | 11.1x | 57,618 |
| Georgia | $912.60 | $83.54 | 10.9x | 55,172 |
| District of Columbia | $910.16 | $85.47 | 10.6x | 4,594 |
| Connecticut | $889.70 | $77.19 | 11.5x | 23,891 |
| New Hampshire | $886.62 | $103.06 | 8.6x | 11,125 |
| Alaska | $881.88 | $139.99 | 6.3x | 3,753 |
| Colorado | $861.46 | $96.86 | 8.9x | 23,386 |
| Louisiana | $849.24 | $101.54 | 8.4x | 22,195 |
| Delaware | $844.91 | $94.25 | 9.0x | 5,098 |
| Missouri | $843.64 | $97.17 | 8.7x | 36,280 |
| Pennsylvania | $840.70 | $82.37 | 10.2x | 92,946 |
| Hawaii | $835.17 | $114.38 | 7.3x | 3,859 |
| Michigan | $832.93 | $80.98 | 10.3x | 49,766 |
| Rhode Island | $818.83 | $96.82 | 8.5x | 5,501 |
| Massachusetts | $797.26 | $97.78 | 8.2x | 45,089 |
| South Carolina | $793.79 | $83.36 | 9.5x | 40,589 |
| Nevada | $793.19 | $102.77 | 7.7x | 13,289 |
| Wyoming | $777.24 | $111.40 | 7.0x | 1,956 |
| Tennessee | $775.15 | $96.01 | 8.1x | 49,580 |
| Minnesota | $730.81 | $79.35 | 9.2x | 27,481 |
| Armed Forces Pacific | $730.00 | $118.24 | 6.2x | 12 |
| Indiana | $714.11 | $96.72 | 7.4x | 29,259 |
| Montana | $701.78 | $110.33 | 6.4x | 6,021 |
| Maine | $688.02 | $102.39 | 6.7x | 6,515 |
| North Dakota | $687.10 | $100.96 | 6.8x | 6,596 |
| Oregon | $672.51 | $107.35 | 6.3x | 12,748 |
| Ohio | $662.32 | $90.42 | 7.3x | 62,081 |
| Iowa | $660.78 | $105.10 | 6.3x | 19,991 |
| Utah | $640.19 | $104.66 | 6.1x | 10,308 |
| Vermont | $631.32 | $87.11 | 7.2x | 3,634 |
| Idaho | $617.62 | $100.09 | 6.2x | 7,786 |
| West Virginia | $612.42 | $84.18 | 7.3x | 10,087 |
| Kansas | $611.80 | $100.84 | 6.1x | 24,077 |
| Washington | $608.70 | $104.80 | 5.8x | 35,721 |
| Alabama | $603.56 | $65.60 | 9.2x | 29,950 |
| Arkansas | $599.90 | $101.41 | 5.9x | 16,667 |
| Kentucky | $587.54 | $98.02 | 6.0x | 26,255 |
| Nebraska | $571.76 | $101.14 | 5.7x | 14,712 |
| Oklahoma | $564.18 | $99.09 | 5.7x | 20,420 |
| Mississippi | $529.74 | $89.85 | 5.9x | 18,994 |
| South Dakota | $481.78 | $94.79 | 5.1x | 10,812 |
| Northern Mariana Islands | $357.98 | $147.23 | 2.4x | 21 |
| Puerto Rico | $355.11 | $184.79 | 1.9x | 852 |
| Virgin Islands | $305.11 | $135.73 | 2.2x | 99 |
| Guam | $202.40 | $132.59 | 1.5x | 518 |
Source: CMS Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners, by Geography and Service. Weighted by service volume across places of service.