Chest X-Ray Cost
X-ray exam chest 2 views
$99Hospital outpatient total2026 Medicare, physician + facilityUnder 2026 Medicare rates, a chest x-ray costs up to about $99 in total at a hospital outpatient department, counting both the physician and the facility. Outside a hospital, one global fee of about $33 covers the whole test, and a ZIP code adjusts every figure to your area.
- ✓Your ZIP's wage-adjusted hospital and surgery center rates
- ✓Five nearby hospitals by name, with CMS star ratings
- ✓The add-on codes that typically land on the bill
- ✓A word-for-word script for asking for a good-faith estimate
- ✓A private link you can reopen and share
- ✓Everything in the Premium report
- ✓15 nearby hospitals instead of five
- ✓Filled good-faith-estimate request letter
- ✓Bill-negotiation letter
- ✓Printable PDF download
National Medicare physician rate (2026)
What the whole procedure costs
The office rate above is what an imaging center, lab or office is paid for the whole test. In a hospital, the facility bills its own fee and the physician bills only the reading. These are 2026 national Medicare amounts.
Medicare may pay the facility separately for this code or package it into another service on the same day, so treat the facility share as an upper bound. For a test like this the physician in a hospital bills only the reading (the professional component); outside a hospital one global fee covers the whole test, shown in the office rate above. Medicare allowed amounts are not what an uninsured patient is charged, and not a quote. Private plans typically allow more.
Get the rate for your ZIP
CMS adjusts this CPT by locality. A five-digit ZIP is enough: no account, no insurance card.
What chest x-ray costs at hospitals near you
Everything above is a national average. The hospital you pick in your area moves the bill more than anything else you control.
Rates for your ZIP, 5 named hospitals with CMS ratings, the add-on codes, and the scheduler script.
For example 90001.
One-off payment, no account and no subscription. You get a private link and an email. No medical records and no insurance card, ever.
What these numbers are
Every figure on this page is a 2026 Medicare allowed amount: the physician line comes from the Physician Fee Schedule adjusted by geographic practice-cost indices, and the facility totals come from the CMS hospital outpatient (OPPS) and ambulatory surgery center rates. None of them is a hospital chargemaster price, your insurer's contracted rate, or a quote. Anesthesia, pathology, imaging reads and follow-up care are billed under their own codes when they apply, and an inpatient stay is paid a different way again. For this code the office and hospital physician lines differ by $23.05.
How CMS prices CPT 71046
Work is about 21% of the office total RVU; practice expense is about 77%. Localities with a high PE GPCI move this code more when practice expense is a large share.
Office vs hospital for this code
Office (non-facility) physician rate: $33.07. Hospital (facility) physician rate: $10.02.
Medicare patients typically owe 20% of the allowed amount after the Part B deductible, about $7 for the office physician fee, before any Medigap coverage. That coinsurance does not include a hospital facility fee.
Labeled private-plan and cash ranges on this page are arithmetic multiples of Medicare, not negotiated quotes. Ask the billing office for the CPT code, the site of service, and a good-faith estimate.
Chest X-Ray cost by state
2026 Medicare non-hospital rate for CPT 71046, averaged across each state's localities. Open a state for its locality table and full cost breakdown.
What Is Chest X-Ray?
A two-view chest X-ray takes front and side pictures of your lungs, heart, and ribs in about five minutes of actual room time. It is among the most commonly ordered imaging tests, used for coughs that will not quit, suspected pneumonia, shortness of breath, or pre-operative checks. You stand against a plate, take a deep breath and hold it for each view, and there is no preparation, no needles, and only a minimal radiation dose.
What Affects the Cost
- –Emergency department chest X-rays cost several times more than the same two views at an urgent care or imaging center.
- –The radiologist's interpretation is a separate professional fee from the technical charge for taking the images.
- –Hospital-owned clinics can attach facility fees that independent offices do not.
- –If findings prompt a follow-up chest CT, that next test costs an order of magnitude more, so where the X-ray leads matters.
- –Some urgent care visit charges bundle the X-ray while others itemize it, changing the apparent price.
How It Is Billed
CPT 71046 specifically means two views; a single view (71045) or additional views carry different codes and prices. The claim usually splits into a technical component billed by the facility and a professional component billed by the radiologist, though offices with in-house reading may bill globally. When done during an office or urgent care visit, the X-ray appears as a line item alongside the visit code rather than replacing it.
Insurance & Coverage Notes
Chest X-rays are covered as diagnostic imaging under all plans without prior authorization, subject to your deductible and any imaging copay; they are cheap enough that many plans apply a flat copay in office settings. On a high-deductible plan you pay the negotiated rate, which varies more by facility than almost any other factor. There is no preventive or screening chest X-ray benefit; routine screening chest X-rays are no longer recommended, so a screening claim would likely be denied.
Questions to Ask Before Booking
- 1.Can I get this done at an imaging center or urgent care rather than the hospital?
- 2.Is the radiologist's reading included in the quoted price?
- 3.Will this be billed separately from my visit charge today?
- 4.What is your cash price if I have a high deductible?
- 5.If something shows up, what follow-up imaging would you order and what does that cost?
Chest X-Ray (CPT 71046): questions
Under 2026 Medicare rates, a chest x-ray costs up to about $99 in total at a hospital outpatient department, counting both the physician and the facility. Outside a hospital, one global fee of about $33 covers the whole test, and a ZIP code adjusts every figure to your area.
Outside a hospital, one global fee pays for the equipment, the staff and the doctor's reading, so the office or imaging center rate for CPT 71046 is $33.07. In a hospital the physician bills only the reading, about $10.02, and the hospital is paid for the rest on its own claim.
A two-view chest X-ray takes front and side pictures of your lungs, heart, and ribs in about five minutes of actual room time. It is among the most commonly ordered imaging tests, used for coughs that will not quit, suspected pneumonia, shortness of breath, or pre-operative checks. You stand against a plate, take a deep breath and hold it for each view, and there is no preparation, no needles, and only a minimal radiation dose. CMS bills it as “X-ray exam chest 2 views.”
It depends on the setting. At an independent imaging center, lab or office, $33.07 is Medicare's full national rate, covering the test and the reading. In a hospital outpatient department the physician is paid only for the reading (about $10.02) and the hospital is paid separately, which takes the total to about $99. Private-plan allowed amounts are often higher than Medicare; your deductible and coinsurance still apply.
For cash-pay surgery shopping, use this CPT as the Medicare floor when you compare written quotes. How cash-price shopping works.