MRIs, CT Scans, Other Medical Procedures Cost More in Johnson County

Hospitals in Johnson County tend to bill at a higher rate for certain medical procedures than hospitals across the state in Polk County, according to new data. 

Patients save $810 by getting a colonoscopy in Polk County compared to what they'd pay for the same medical procedure in Johnson County. The average cost here in Johnson County is $2,800 compared to $1,990 in Polk County.

Still, the bill in Polk and Johnson County is less than the state average for a colonoscopy - $3,690, according to data from New Choice Health, a private company that encourages people to become smarter healthcare consumers.

Other procedures tend to have more similar prices, although Polk County typically beats out Johnson County by a couple hundred dollars or so. For example, MRIs are billed at $1,570 in Polk County compared to $1,740 in Johnson County. The state average is $2,630.

Big regional differences have been in the news lately: As the Washington Post wrote on Wednesday, "One hospital charges $8,000 - another $38,000." Using the same data from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as the Post, The New York Times listed out the prices of a series of procedures in hospitals across the country.

According to a Times breakdown of the data, prices vary significantly at hospitals in the Iowa City, Des Moines and Cedar Rapids areas among the most common type of cases.

Mercy Iowa City bills Medicare $38,875 for a permanent pacemaker insertion, whereas Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids bills $41,360.

Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines bills Medicare on average $56,000 for this procedure, which is nearly $13,000 cheaper at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines. St. Luke's in Cedar Rapids bills $45,974. Data was not available for University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for this procedure.

Major joint replacement is another procedure with varied billing. At Mercy Des Moines, the bill is $33,000 on average, Iowa Methodist bills Medicare $40,000, Iowa Lutheran bills $42,300. Mercy Iowa City comes in at $46,931 on average. University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics bills more than any of those options - $48,762. In Linn County, Mercy Cedar Rapids bills $35,990, and St. Luke's bills $33,288 over 316 cases.

The Times and the Post used data from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Patch worked with New Choice Health to examine the cost of four well-known procedures in Patch communities all across the country and found wide disparities – CT scans, colonoscopies, MRIs and mammograms. The examination revealed the costs can vary by thousands of dollars even within the same community.

Take Orange County. A CT scan in the sprawling suburban area can go for as little as $1,790 or for as much as $6,130 – a difference of more than $4,000. The cost of a colonoscopy in Suffolk County Massachusetts, can be as little as $2,570 or as much as $6,000.

The prices from New Choice Health reflect the “list price” for these procedures – kind of like the sticker price on a car. Health insurance companies often end up getting different discounts and reimbursements depending the arrangements they have worked out with providers. But the point, says New Choice’s Brian Keigley, is to give consumers the information they need to negotiate for themselves.

Looking at the data, some trends seem to emerge. Often the communities with the well-known medical research centers seem to be some of the most expensive places to have procedures done – or they at least go higher on the high-end of costs.