New data reveals the top ten Florida counties that spend the most on medical bills.
The research conducted by accident attorneys RTRLAW, analyzed official data from Florida Health Finder on the average price of healthcare in each of Florida’s counties.
The study examined medical bundles—including, but not limited to, knee replacements, gallbladder removals, and cesarean deliveries—were sorted into eleven categories using GPT-4. These categories include surgeries, procedures, therapies, and more. The study then combined the median prices of each category to name the top ten counties with the highest average medical costs.
Gadsden County, just west of Tallahassee, had the most expensive medical bills in the state. The average cost of all combined categories amounts to $6,853, 457% higher than the state’s average of $1,231. On average, residents spend $93 on a doctor’s visit. The county’s most expensive medical bundle is a cardiac catheterization diagnostic, an invasive procedure analyzing the structure and function of the heart, costing $48,412. This comes out at 73% higher than the state’s average of $27,150.
In second place is Osceola. With an average cost of $4,070 for all medical categories, Osceola spends 231% more on medical bills than other counties in Florida. According to the data, the county’s average doctor visit cost is $360. Lumbar laminectomy, a surgery that removes the vertebral bone in part or in whole, is the county’s most expensive medical bundle at $91,351. This works out 42% above Florida’s average of $64,220.
Seminole County has the third-highest-priced medical care in Florida. When combined, the county’s medical categories cost $3,600 on average, 192% higher than the state’s benchmark. Behind a lumbar laminectomy, the second most expensive medical bundle is a coronary angioplasty with a drug-eluting stent, which is an in-patient procedure that treats narrowed or blocked coronary arteries. The in-patient procedure has a median cost of $51,982, 48% above the average in Florida, $35,015. Moreover, in Seminole, a doctor’s visit costs approximately $391.
Leon County ranks fourth, with an average combined cost of $3,021 for all medical categories, 145% higher than other counties in Florida. A hip replacement is Leon’s second-highest-priced medical bundle after a lumbar laminectomy; this outpatient surgery averages $53,575, 90% more expensive than the median cost in Florida, $28,233. According to the study, Leon’s residents pay an average of $431 for a doctor’s visit.
In fifth place, with an average cost of $2,864 for all combined medical categories, is Orange County. The county spends 133% more on medical care when compared to other counties in Florida. A cervical spine fusion, which joins two or more vertebrae in the neck to relieve pain, is the second most expensive medical bundle in the county, following a lumbar laminectomy; the surgery costs $56,192 on average, 13% higher than the state’s average of $49,708.
Duval County spends the sixth-most on medical care in Florida, with an average combined cost of $2,786 for all medical categories, 126% higher than other counties in Florida. In Duval, the average price for a full mastectomy for a single breast is $35,894, 23% higher than the state’s benchmark of $29,226. As such, it is the third most expensive medical bundle in the county after a lumbar laminectomy and a cervical spine fusion. Additionally, Duval’s average doctor visit price is $444.
Hillsborough ranks seventh, with medical categories costing an average of $2,763 when combined, 124% above the state’s benchmark. The county’s average cost for a doctor’s visit will set residents back $411 on average. Behind a lumbar laminectomy and a coronary angioplasty with a drug-eluting stent, a gastric bypass is the highest-priced medical bundle. At $44,114, this is 28% higher than the average cost in Florida, $34,513.
Alachua ranks eighth, with the average cost of all combined categories amounting to $2,734, followed by Miami-Dade in ninth, with an average cost of $2,642 for all combined medical categories. Lee is the tenth most expensive county for medical bills in Florida, with medical categories costing an average of $2,398 when combined.
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