Billed charges against Medicare allowed amounts in American Samoa, across the 1 procedures Medicare covers most often.
Providers here billed the most above the national figure for emergency department visit with moderate level of medical decision making. The average was $1,370.00 against a national $787.96. That is 1.7 times as much.
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.
| Procedure | Billed here | Allowed | Gap | vs national billed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emergency department visit with moderate level of medical decision making | $1,370.00 | $93.36 | 14.7x | 1.74x |
The last column compares this state against the national average for the same code. Above 1.00 means providers here billed more.
Source: CMS Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners, by Geography and Service. Weighted by service volume across places of service.