Average healthcare prices across the U.S. maintained a five-month downward trend through November, according to the newest U.S. Health Care Price Index report.
Five things to know from the index, which uses data from cash-pay healthcare marketplace Sesame:
1. That prices for primary care telehealth visits fell 8.1 percent from July to November, while prices for COVID-19 screenings dropped by 7.8 percent over the same period.
2. Prescription refill and UTI appointments came down by 7.3 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively, from July to November.
3. Mental health consult prices had been steadily rising since May, but from October to November those prices cooled by 8 percent to an average of $44.36 per appointment.
4. The most affordable primary care telehealth appointments in the nation, on average, are in Texas. At $37.06, the state's average price is nearly four dollars cheaper than the national average.
5. The most expensive is in Tennessee, at $53.31 on average per primary care telehealth appointment.