Code 74018. Medicare covered 1,991,691 of these. Here is what providers billed and what Medicare allowed, state by state.
Providers in Virgin Islands billed the most for this, at $130.11. In Guam the average was $29.26. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virgin Islands | $130.11 | $23.75 | 5.5x | 63 |
| Wisconsin | $96.19 | $10.59 | 9.1x | 37,085 |
| Armed Forces Central/South America | $90.63 | $8.42 | 10.8x | 276 |
| Alaska | $90.11 | $13.76 | 6.5x | 3,197 |
| New Hampshire | $78.33 | $10.05 | 7.8x | 8,480 |
| Texas | $77.60 | $11.37 | 6.8x | 152,483 |
| Arizona | $77.03 | $13.02 | 5.9x | 35,453 |
| Nevada | $72.17 | $10.92 | 6.6x | 15,100 |
| California | $64.57 | $12.28 | 5.3x | 180,821 |
| South Carolina | $64.25 | $12.55 | 5.1x | 33,832 |
| Wyoming | $63.66 | $11.34 | 5.6x | 1,731 |
| Florida | $61.24 | $12.34 | 5.0x | 127,730 |
| Colorado | $61.05 | $10.73 | 5.7x | 26,677 |
| Illinois | $60.65 | $10.77 | 5.6x | 92,571 |
| New Jersey | $57.16 | $13.69 | 4.2x | 36,263 |
| Georgia | $57.08 | $10.73 | 5.3x | 56,804 |
| Idaho | $55.47 | $9.83 | 5.6x | 8,021 |
| Mississippi | $55.21 | $11.66 | 4.7x | 25,110 |
| Indiana | $53.84 | $10.87 | 5.0x | 42,918 |
| Vermont | $53.76 | $9.20 | 5.8x | 2,579 |
| North Carolina | $53.40 | $11.62 | 4.6x | 82,156 |
| New York | $52.88 | $12.96 | 4.1x | 112,050 |
| Ohio | $52.66 | $9.89 | 5.3x | 87,621 |
| Tennessee | $52.34 | $11.85 | 4.4x | 57,979 |
| Minnesota | $52.11 | $9.88 | 5.3x | 45,614 |
| Virginia | $51.83 | $12.93 | 4.0x | 58,146 |
| Connecticut | $51.01 | $10.66 | 4.8x | 19,394 |
| North Dakota | $50.20 | $9.70 | 5.2x | 2,877 |
| New Mexico | $49.90 | $10.41 | 4.8x | 7,334 |
| Louisiana | $49.59 | $11.51 | 4.3x | 31,649 |
| Rhode Island | $48.35 | $12.15 | 4.0x | 4,763 |
| Delaware | $47.53 | $12.83 | 3.7x | 4,810 |
| District of Columbia | $47.00 | $10.30 | 4.6x | 4,415 |
| Missouri | $45.63 | $10.62 | 4.3x | 55,619 |
| Iowa | $45.30 | $11.03 | 4.1x | 15,525 |
| Oklahoma | $44.93 | $10.75 | 4.2x | 29,564 |
| Alabama | $44.08 | $12.04 | 3.7x | 33,139 |
| Michigan | $43.32 | $9.97 | 4.3x | 53,742 |
| Pennsylvania | $42.25 | $10.16 | 4.2x | 73,062 |
| Kentucky | $41.90 | $9.84 | 4.3x | 29,732 |
| Oregon | $41.75 | $10.78 | 3.9x | 13,488 |
| West Virginia | $41.68 | $9.11 | 4.6x | 12,694 |
| Kansas | $40.79 | $11.21 | 3.6x | 19,429 |
| Nebraska | $40.17 | $11.05 | 3.6x | 16,384 |
| Unknown | $40.00 | $8.83 | 4.5x | 49 |
| Foreign Country | $39.96 | $8.51 | 4.7x | 366 |
| Armed Forces Pacific | $39.18 | $11.63 | 3.4x | 300 |
| Massachusetts | $39.11 | $10.13 | 3.9x | 41,595 |
| Utah | $38.36 | $12.07 | 3.2x | 8,444 |
| Maryland | $38.31 | $13.28 | 2.9x | 87,787 |
| Armed Forces Europe | $37.28 | $8.83 | 4.2x | 13 |
| Washington | $37.26 | $10.57 | 3.5x | 41,957 |
| Hawaii | $36.76 | $10.44 | 3.5x | 7,900 |
| Montana | $36.12 | $9.59 | 3.8x | 3,700 |
| Maine | $35.16 | $8.88 | 4.0x | 5,288 |
| South Dakota | $33.67 | $11.10 | 3.0x | 5,712 |
| Arkansas | $32.64 | $10.62 | 3.1x | 29,112 |
| Puerto Rico | $30.80 | $16.90 | 1.8x | 999 |
| Guam | $29.26 | $17.10 | 1.7x | 80 |
Source: CMS Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners, by Geography and Service. Weighted by service volume across places of service.