Barium swallow cost in Buffalo, NY
In Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY, 5 hospitals list a cash price for Barium swallow (esophagus X-ray with contrast): from $132.00 to $523.31, with a median of $132.00. The lowest listed price is at Mount St. Mary's Hospital and 2 other hospitals. Across New York, the median is $302.74 at 62 hospitals.
Cash prices at 5 facilities across 2 cities for code 74220, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Sep 23, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Apr 1, 2026 and Aug 25, 2026.
Where each hospital's price falls
Each dot is one hospital's cash price on a scale from the lowest to the highest in Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list | File date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount St. Mary's Hospital lowest Lewiston, NY Radiologic Exam Esophagus Single Contrast Study | $132.00 | $132.00 | $12.12–$486.00 | — | — source file |
| Sisters of Charity Hospital lowest Buffalo, NY Radiologic Exam Esophagus Single Contrast Study | $132.00 | $132.00 | $12.12–$486.00 | — | — source file |
| Mercy Hospital of Buffalo lowest Buffalo, NY Radiologic Exam Esophagus Single Contrast Study | $132.00 | $132.00 | $12.12–$486.00 | — | — source file |
| Erie County Medical Center Corporation Buffalo, NY X-RAY XM ESOPHAGUS 1CNTRST | $206.21 | — | $43.89–$547.38 | — | Aug 25, 2026 source file |
| Roswell Park Cancer Institute Buffalo, NY Esophagus | $523.31 | $523.31 | — | — | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
Outpatient: lowest $132.00, median $132.00, highest $523.31 — a 4.0× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 4 facilities here, median $132.00. Inpatient and outpatient prices are not comparable and are kept on separate pages: the inpatient charge covers admission, not the same purchase.
Cash or insurance?
At 4 of 4 hospitals that publish insurer rates for this code here, the cash price is below the highest rate a health plan has negotiated, and at none is it below every plan's rate. If you have insurance but have not met your deductible, you usually pay your plan's negotiated rate, which falls somewhere in the "Insurers pay" column. Paying cash can cost less, but a cash payment usually does not count toward your deductible. Ask the hospital for both numbers before you book.
What it is
A barium swallow is a live X-ray of the esophagus while you drink barium. It shows narrowing, hernias and problems with how food passes.
What the price covers
The price usually covers the study and the barium. The radiologist's reading may be billed separately.
3 rows held back from this comparison
They are priced below $1 or below a tenth of the national median for code 74220 ($425.55). Such a line is almost always a physician's fee billed separately, an assistant's share or a placeholder — a real charge, but not the price of the procedure itself.
| Mount St. Mary's Hospital Lewiston, NYHC Esophagram - Fl Esophagus Barium Swallow | $12.00 | file |
| Sisters of Charity Hospital Buffalo, NYHC Esophagram - Fl Esophagus Barium Swallow | $12.00 | file |
| Mercy Hospital of Buffalo Buffalo, NYHC Esophagram - Fl Esophagus Barium Swallow | $12.00 | file |