The Cost of Healthcare: Most and Least Expensive Cities for Common Medical Services

July 28, 2014

(Medical Daily) – Medical tourism has become a multi-billion dollar business over the past decade, with estimates ranging as high as 1.2 million Americans set to journey overseas this year in order to find the best prices on surgical procedures. Now a new analysis of medical claims data from Castlight Health suggests you might be wise to travel within the borders of the U.S. when seeking common medical services. Using historical prices and analytics, Castlight’s results show how much prices vary for the same services across cities — and also within them. “When it comes to choosing a healthcare provider, the consumer experience is akin to shopping at a store without any prices,” note the authors of the survey.