Survey finds huge disparity in U.S. imaging costs

There are large differences in what employers and employees across the U.S. pay for common healthcare procedures such as mammography, according to a new report from Castlight Health.

A survey of the country's 30 most populous cities found that women can pay as little as $43 and as much as $1,898 for a mammogram. The cost can also vary greatly within the same city.

In Dallas, a woman could pay $50 to $1,045 for a mammogram. In New York City, the price can vary from $130 to $1,898 -- the most expensive mammogram in the country. In Los Angeles, a mammogram ranges from $86 to $954, while the cost is $129 to $860 in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Other results included the following:

• A head/brain CT scan in Washington, DC, can cost $78 to $1,673. However, the DC area was the least expensive for the procedure, with an average price of $592. On average, the same CT scan was most expensive in Indianapolis and Charlotte, NC, at more than $1,300.
• The cost of a lower-back MRI scan in New York City ranged from $334 to $3,939. Indianapolis was on average the most expensive, at $2,307.