Modified radical mastectomies: average charges, 1988

Average charge of $6,160 was billed to Metropolitan Life Insurance Company for 807 modified radical mastectomies during 1988. The average physicians' fees were $2,090. Length of hospital stay averaged 4.3 days across the country. The charges varied by as much as 92 percent between states. Among the 19 states included in the study, New York and California reported the highest average total charges ($7,870 and $7,290) and Iowa and Minnesota reported the lowest average charges ($4,100 and $4,620). On average, hospital expense comprised 66 percent of the total charges and ancillary fees accounted for almost three-fourths of the hospital bill.