Study: California Cities Among Costliest for Women’s Health Services

Several California cities are among the costliest in the U.S. for women's health services, according to a new study by Castlight Health, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Details of Study

For the annual study, Castlight surveyed 30 cities across the U.S.

Overall, the study examined the costs of common health screenings, including routine primary care exams and cholesterol tests. This year's study also included the prices of four women's health procedures:

• HPV tests;
• Mammograms;
• Obstetrics and gynecology follow-up visits; and
• Preventive gynecological exams (Masunaga, Los Angeles Times, 10/7).

Five California cities were included in the study:

• Fresno;
• Los Angeles;
• Sacramento;
• San Diego; and
• San Francisco (Castlight Health study, October 2015).

Overall, the study found that costs for the same procedure can vary widely (Lapook, CBS News, 10/7)

California Findings

According to the study, Sacramento had the highest average cost among all 30 cities for mammograms, at $485, compared with the lowest average cost of $91 in Tulsa, Okla.

Meanwhile, San Francisco had the highest average cost for preventive gynecological exams, at $214, compared with the lowest average cost of $103 in El Paso, Texas (Cauterucci, Slate, 10/7).

Among the five California cities in the study, San Francisco had the highest average cost for HPV tests and ob/gyn follow-up visits, at $187 and $85, respectively. In comparison, Los Angeles had the lowest average cost among California cities for such services, at $67 and $73, respectively (Castlight Health study, October 2015).