CT Chest With Contrast Cost
Ct thorax dx c+
$233Hospital outpatient total2026 Medicare, physician + facilityUnder 2026 Medicare rates, a CT chest with contrast costs up to about $233 in total at a hospital outpatient department, counting both the physician and the facility. Outside a hospital, one global fee of about $167 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 CT chest with contrast 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 $112.89.
How CMS prices CPT 71260
Work is about 23% of the office total RVU; practice expense is about 76%. 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: $166.67. Hospital (facility) physician rate: $53.78.
Medicare patients typically owe 20% of the allowed amount after the Part B deductible, about $33 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.
CT Chest With Contrast cost by state
2026 Medicare non-hospital rate for CPT 71260, averaged across each state's localities. Open a state for its locality table and full cost breakdown.
What Is CT Chest With Contrast?
A chest CT with contrast adds an IV injection of iodine dye during the scan to light up blood vessels, lymph nodes, and masses in the chest. It is preferred when evaluating enlarged lymph nodes, suspected cancer spread, or vascular structures. The scan itself takes under a minute; the appointment runs about 30 minutes including IV placement, and the dye causes a brief warm flush that patients often feel in odd places.
What Affects the Cost
- –The iodinated contrast is a separate supply charge on top of the scan fee.
- –A kidney function blood test may be required before contrast in older patients or those with kidney risk, adding a lab charge.
- –Hospital versus freestanding center pricing gaps for contrast CT are just as wide as for any advanced imaging.
- –Patients with prior contrast reactions may need pre-medication protocols or an alternative study, changing the cost picture.
- –The radiologist's fee for a contrast-enhanced study runs higher than for the plain version.
How It Is Billed
CPT 71260 means contrast-enhanced only; a protocol that scans before and after dye uses 71270 instead. The contrast agent bills under its own supply code, and IV placement is generally bundled but occasionally itemized. As with all CT, hospitals split the technical and professional components into separate claims while independent centers typically quote one global price, which makes their quotes easier to compare.
Insurance & Coverage Notes
Prior authorization through a radiology benefits manager is standard on commercial plans, and the approval is protocol-specific, so confirm it says with contrast. Medicare Part B covers it without prior authorization at 20 percent coinsurance. If your kidney function is borderline, the facility may switch you to a non-contrast study on the day, which is clinically sensible but can require a corrected claim; check the final bill matches what was actually done.
Questions to Ask Before Booking
- 1.Does my authorization specify a contrast-enhanced chest CT?
- 2.Will I need a kidney function test first, and is that billed to me?
- 3.How much is the contrast agent itself on your bills?
- 4.What is the global price at a freestanding imaging center?
- 5.If I react to dye or my kidneys disqualify me, what happens to the study and the charges?
CT Chest With Contrast (CPT 71260): questions
Under 2026 Medicare rates, a CT chest with contrast costs up to about $233 in total at a hospital outpatient department, counting both the physician and the facility. Outside a hospital, one global fee of about $167 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 71260 is $166.67. In a hospital the physician bills only the reading, about $53.78, and the hospital is paid for the rest on its own claim.
A chest CT with contrast adds an IV injection of iodine dye during the scan to light up blood vessels, lymph nodes, and masses in the chest. It is preferred when evaluating enlarged lymph nodes, suspected cancer spread, or vascular structures. The scan itself takes under a minute; the appointment runs about 30 minutes including IV placement, and the dye causes a brief warm flush that patients often feel in odd places. CMS bills it as “Ct thorax dx c+.”
It depends on the setting. At an independent imaging center, lab or office, $166.67 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 $53.78) and the hospital is paid separately, which takes the total to about $233. 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.