The average back nerve-block injection was billed to Medicare at about $1,014 in 2024 — Medicare paid about $121
The services-weighted average of $1,014 is pulled up by a right tail: the median group lists about $707, while the highest-listing tenth list about $1,990 or more.
The gap widened over 2020 to 2024 — from about 7.3 to about 8.4 times as much billed as paid.
Charged about 8.4 times what it paid: for the average back nerve-block injection in 2024, these groups billed about $1,014 and Medicare paid about $121.
The gap is a list price set against a fee schedule. Submitted charges are amounts each group sets on its own. Medicare pays its allowed amount for the injection, whatever the list price.
Medicare is one payer. The submitted charge is a list price, and a higher one does not raise Medicare's payment. The gap measures a list price against one payer's schedule, from Medicare claims only. It says nothing about what any other payer pays.
This is the physician's professional service. When the injection is done in a hospital or surgery center, the facility bills a separate charge not included here.
A record of what was billed and what Medicare paid — not a verdict on price, value, or fairness. The charge is a list amount each group sets; the payment is the fee schedule's fixed amount.
The average submitted charge and the average Medicare payment per back nerve-block injection (physician professional service), across named physician groups, in 2024.
Not a total-spending figure, not a facility charge and not all-payer.