In Presque Isle, ME, 1 hospital
lists a cash price for barium swallow (esophagus X-ray with contrast):
from $112.56 to
$112.56, with a median of
$112.56.
Across Maine, the median is $365.00 at
23 hospitals.
Cash prices at 1
facility
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 — and
—.
Hospital The hospital that published the price, its city and the line exactly as written in its price file.
Cash price The hospital's own price for a patient paying without insurance (“discounted cash” in its price file). Hospitals must publish it under federal law, 45 CFR 180.50. Call to confirm it before booking. More
List price The hospital's full chargemaster price (“gross charge”) before any discount. Almost nobody pays it; the gap to the cash price shows what the self-pay discount is worth. More
Insurers pay The lowest and highest rates this hospital has agreed with insurance plans for the same item, from its price file. If the cash price is below what your plan pays and you have not met your deductible, paying cash can cost you less. More
Off list How much lower the cash price is than the list price.
At or below Medicare This cash price is at or below what Medicare pays a hospital for the same service, which is unusually low. It is what the hospital's file says; confirm it and what it includes before booking. More
Outpatient:
lowest $112.56, median $112.56,
highest $112.56.
As an inpatient, the same code is
billed by 1
facility here, median
$112.56. 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 the one hospital here that publishes insurer rates for this code, the cash price is below the highest rate a health plan has negotiated and 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.