Ultrasound, leg veins (duplex)

For the ultrasound of leg veins (duplex) at Mercy Hospital Pittsburg, Inc, the facility's cash price is $333.00, which is lower than the median negotiated rate of $244.00 paid by insurance plans. While many commercial payers, such as Aetna and UnitedHealthcare, negotiate rates ranging from $158 to $700, the cash price remains the most affordable option for patients without insurance or those with high-deductible plans. Because commercial contracts often include administrative overhead that inflates the baseline price by 20% to 40%, paying out-of-pocket can sometimes result in significant savings compared to the allowed amounts set by insurers.

The facility's cash rate of $333.00 is notably higher than the state of Kansas average for this procedure, which is approximately $244.00, and exceeds the Medicare benchmark of $243.77. This discrepancy highlights the importance of comparing rates against the federal government's cost-based baseline rather than the hospital's inflated chargemaster list. Patients should be aware that while the No Surprises Act protects against balance billing for out-of-network services at in-network facilities, it does not apply to self-pay scenarios. To minimize costs, individuals should explicitly request self-pay or prompt-pay discounts before scheduling, as these upfront payment incentives can bypass the costly claims processing cycle and reduce the final bill.