Health care prices are almost uniformly higher in the U.S.—sometimes staggeringly so: Prices of various health care goods and services in the United States compared with prices among advanced peer countries, 2015

Six-peer-country average Lowest non-U.S. price Highest non-U.S. price U.S. average U.S. 95th percentile
Xarelto 32 16 43 100 110
Humira 37 21 51 100 112
Harvoni 60 53 70 100 103
Truvada 55 43 70 100 104
Tecfidera 26 13 36 100 105
Avastin 38 24 45 100 225
OxyContin 27 14 36 100 104
Angiogram 68 16 185 100 267
CT scan abdomen 48 10 102 100 280
MRI 43 12 72 100 271
Colonoscopy 86 29 235 100 261
Cardiac catheterization 44 4 80 100 266
Hospital cost per day 33 8 92 100 333
Appendectomy: Total 29 11 50 100 209
Normal delivery: Total 38 12 72 100 170
C-section: Total 35 14 62 100 177
Cataract surgery: Total 66 34 89 100 237
Knee replacement: Total 51 24 71 100 198
Hip replacement: Total 47 23 67 100 197
Bypass surgery: Total 33 19 44 100 206
Angioplasty: Total 30 21 43 100 233
Health care prices are almost uniformly higher in the U.S.—sometimes staggeringly so: Prices of various health care goods and services in the United States compared with prices among advanced peer countries, 2015

Notes: For listed procedures, “Total” refers to the total cost of hospital and physician services. Comparison countries are Australia, New Zealand, Spain, South Africa, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Price data are not available for all goods and services in all countries (e.g., prices for Xarelto are available only for South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, not for Australia or New Zealand).

Source: Author’s analysis of International Federation of Health Plans (2016) Comparative Price Report

View the underlying data on epi.org.