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October 7, 2015

Costliest Cities 2015: Women are paying wildly varying costs for medical services

As it turns out, common healthcare procedures for women can have as much as a 44x cost differential nationwide. Today we released our second annual U.S. Costliest Cities Analysis, which revealed this and many other disparities in healthcare costs that women—and all consumers—face.

Our Costliest Cities Analysis is the only comprehensive study to peel back the layers and reveal what employers and employees actually pay for common, in-network healthcare procedures in the 30 most populous U.S. cities. And for the first time this year we analyzed prices of four frequently used women’s health procedures: mammograms, OB/GYN follow-up visits, preventative gynecological exams, and HPV tests.

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What we found were dramatic price swings, often occurring within a single metro area. Disparities like this can cause employees and their employers to overpay for critical health services. Or worse, patients might delay preventative care if they can’t afford the high costs, risking their long-term wellbeing and increasing the chances of higher medical spending down the road.

Over the coming weeks we’ll be sharing out some of the most dramatic price disparities found in each of our 30 top cities – starting here in Castlight’s home base of San Francisco.

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In the meantime, peruse the Costliest Cities 2015 interactive map to find out where you’ll end up paying the most – or least – for the very same medical procedure.

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