Milwaukee has the most expensive hospitals compared to the nation’s other metro areas, according to a new report from a San Francisco-based firm.
Milwaukee took the top spot on a new list compiled by Amino, a health care transparency company, that compared the costliness of hospitals in the largest cities in the U.S.
Milwaukee received a cost rating of 3.27 out of 4 in the report, followed by San Jose, California, with a rating of 2.9. Amino’s Facility Cost Rating ranges from 1 to 4.
Other cities in the top 10 included: San Francisco, California (2.7); Sacramento, California (2.63); San Diego, California (2.58); Seattle, Washington (2.35); Louisville, Kentucky (2.22); Minneapolis, Minnesota (2.22); Indianapolis, Indiana (2.18); and Portland, Oregon (2.14).
Amino’s ratings compare costs of services for different combinations of facilities and insurance payers. The data include about 35,000 facilities, 125 insurance payers and 6,500 procedures. It amounts to 3.5 million cost observations since 2016 from more than 100,000 combinations of facilities and payers.
The report also included a list of the cities with the least expensive hospitals. They are: Buffalo, Rochester, Baltimore, Tampa, Philadelphia, Dallas, New Orleans, New York, Pittsburgh, and Birmingham. A complete list cities, ranked from least to most expensive, is available here.
In October, Amino released a list of the most expensive hospitals in the Milwaukee area. They were: Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare – St. Francis; Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare – Franklin; Aurora Medical Center in Grafton; Aurora St Luke’s Medical Center and Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare’s St. Joseph Hospital.
The least expensive Milwaukee hospitals, meanwhile, included: Columbia St Mary’s Hospital – Milwaukee, Oconomowoc Memorial Hospital, Columbia St Mary’s Hospital – Ozaukee, Waukesha Memorial Hospital, and Aurora St Luke’s South Shore.