Table 3.

2013 and 2015 Medicare average costs for screening colonoscopies

Screening colonoscopy days	Without biopsy	With biopsy	Total/avg
N	25,850	30,728	56,578
% n	46%	54%	100%
Actual 2013 costs per screening
Professional and technical	$672	$949	$822
Anesthesiaa (separately billed)	85	91	88
Pathologya	0	92	50
Bowel preparation agents	39	39	39
Total	797	1171	1000
Estimated 2015 costs per screening	$824	$1212	$1035

^aPathology and anesthesia costs are averaged across colonoscopies with and without these costs

Source: Authors’ analysis of 2013 Medicare 5% Sample data, 2013 Part D prescription drug data, and (for trend) Medicare 2013 and 2015 fee schedules