Code 99284. Medicare covered 4,532,507 of these. Here is what providers billed and what Medicare allowed, state by state.
Providers in American Samoa billed the most for this, at $1,370.00. In Vermont the average was $462.32. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Samoa | $1,370.00 | $93.36 | 14.7x | 36 |
| Louisiana | $1,237.91 | $111.74 | 11.1x | 68,672 |
| Armed Forces Europe | $1,225.94 | $111.81 | 11.0x | 577 |
| Armed Forces Central/South America | $1,115.05 | $127.33 | 8.8x | 297 |
| Texas | $1,038.97 | $113.97 | 9.1x | 285,311 |
| Foreign Country | $998.72 | $114.85 | 8.7x | 519 |
| Georgia | $997.55 | $112.30 | 8.9x | 110,841 |
| Nevada | $995.19 | $113.56 | 8.8x | 34,394 |
| Florida | $990.95 | $118.12 | 8.4x | 292,076 |
| Alaska | $971.11 | $151.88 | 6.4x | 13,981 |
| Tennessee | $942.96 | $108.29 | 8.7x | 96,978 |
| Arizona | $931.08 | $111.43 | 8.4x | 89,948 |
| Mississippi | $907.83 | $110.14 | 8.2x | 60,632 |
| New Jersey | $897.90 | $121.24 | 7.4x | 116,658 |
| Hawaii | $853.76 | $113.78 | 7.5x | 13,643 |
| Wyoming | $837.19 | $110.46 | 7.6x | 7,110 |
| Ohio | $817.85 | $112.66 | 7.3x | 185,662 |
| Alabama | $816.94 | $107.19 | 7.6x | 65,328 |
| New Mexico | $808.81 | $114.43 | 7.1x | 30,604 |
| Arkansas | $793.93 | $108.74 | 7.3x | 59,980 |
| Armed Forces Pacific | $788.94 | $123.43 | 6.4x | 610 |
| South Carolina | $787.59 | $110.85 | 7.1x | 124,534 |
| Oklahoma | $778.67 | $110.61 | 7.0x | 79,243 |
| Wisconsin | $777.82 | $108.12 | 7.2x | 77,972 |
| California | $776.12 | $118.19 | 6.6x | 376,306 |
| Northern Mariana Islands | $770.08 | $101.57 | 7.6x | 96 |
| Virginia | $769.16 | $111.99 | 6.9x | 120,816 |
| Washington | $768.09 | $115.26 | 6.7x | 63,955 |
| Michigan | $761.27 | $117.19 | 6.5x | 181,657 |
| Delaware | $760.52 | $114.04 | 6.7x | 18,613 |
| Maryland | $760.24 | $116.64 | 6.5x | 93,512 |
| North Carolina | $753.14 | $108.94 | 6.9x | 136,027 |
| Illinois | $739.62 | $119.33 | 6.2x | 205,217 |
| Kentucky | $734.10 | $111.24 | 6.6x | 79,076 |
| Connecticut | $726.97 | $118.96 | 6.1x | 59,898 |
| Rhode Island | $714.07 | $116.11 | 6.2x | 18,968 |
| New York | $711.34 | $124.21 | 5.7x | 289,338 |
| Colorado | $709.99 | $114.94 | 6.2x | 59,319 |
| Indiana | $693.43 | $109.18 | 6.4x | 99,434 |
| Kansas | $687.08 | $107.23 | 6.4x | 45,346 |
| Missouri | $681.20 | $112.28 | 6.1x | 95,484 |
| Utah | $675.23 | $113.70 | 5.9x | 26,856 |
| Guam | $671.85 | $118.17 | 5.7x | 1,643 |
| Virgin Islands | $650.78 | $106.18 | 6.1x | 474 |
| New Hampshire | $632.33 | $112.76 | 5.6x | 24,210 |
| Idaho | $621.53 | $108.07 | 5.8x | 19,638 |
| Puerto Rico | $606.72 | $118.10 | 5.1x | 5,985 |
| Pennsylvania | $605.87 | $115.73 | 5.2x | 252,020 |
| Minnesota | $605.35 | $109.64 | 5.5x | 71,232 |
| Oregon | $605.06 | $113.87 | 5.3x | 47,977 |
| Iowa | $603.08 | $106.23 | 5.7x | 39,857 |
| District of Columbia | $586.21 | $121.99 | 4.8x | 17,250 |
| Maine | $580.34 | $112.93 | 5.1x | 26,616 |
| West Virginia | $556.71 | $114.60 | 4.9x | 39,441 |
| Nebraska | $551.37 | $105.45 | 5.2x | 29,845 |
| South Dakota | $547.84 | $108.41 | 5.1x | 10,179 |
| North Dakota | $534.54 | $111.84 | 4.8x | 10,037 |
| Massachusetts | $505.44 | $116.47 | 4.3x | 120,069 |
| Montana | $464.83 | $115.99 | 4.0x | 15,952 |
| Vermont | $462.32 | $110.97 | 4.2x | 14,445 |
Source: CMS Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners, by Geography and Service. Weighted by service volume across places of service.