Prices For Common Medical Services Vary Substantially Among The Commercially Insured.

Using a national multipayer commercial claims database containing allowed amounts, we examined variations in the prices for 242 common medical services in forty-one states and the District of Columbia. Ratios of average state prices to national prices ranged from a low of 0.79 in Florida to a high of 2.64 in Alaska. Two- to threefold variations in prices were identified within some states and Metropolitan Statistical Areas.