How Much Does a Knee X-Ray Cost in Colorado?
X-ray exam of knee 1 or 2
$97Hospital outpatient total2026 Medicare, physician + facilityUnder 2026 Medicare rates, a knee x-ray costs up to about $97 in total at a hospital outpatient department, counting both the physician and the facility (national rates). Outside a hospital, at an independent imaging center, lab or office, Medicare's full rate in Colorado averages $36.
- ✓Your ZIP's wage-adjusted hospital and surgery center rates
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- ✓The add-on codes that typically land on the bill
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- ✓15 nearby hospitals instead of five
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Colorado Medicare physician rate (2026)
+5.1% vs nationalSingle statewide locality.
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.
Your ZIP in Colorado
Enter a ZIP code to compare your area of Colorado, from Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, and Colorado Springs to Grand Junction, the mountain resort counties, and the Eastern Plains.
What knee x-ray costs at hospitals near you
Everything above is a national average. The hospital you pick in Colorado 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 80001.
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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. In Colorado the office and hospital physician lines for this CPT differ by $27.98.
National vs Colorado
Where Colorado ranks for this CPT
Knee X-Ray and how Colorado is priced
Colorado's physician fees are set through a single statewide locality, so the Front Range and the Western Slope share one set of geographic adjustments despite very different local economies. The state's indices run modestly above the national midpoint, reflecting Denver-area wages and rents averaged against lower-cost rural areas. Because the locality is unified, mountain resort towns do not carry a higher Medicare fee schedule even though their private-market prices are famously steep. That gap between Medicare's uniform pricing and wide private-price variation is a defining feature of the Colorado market.
Care is concentrated along the Front Range from Fort Collins through Denver to Colorado Springs and Pueblo, where several large systems and an academic medical center compete. Mountain and plains communities depend on smaller hospitals, and residents there commonly drive to Denver or Grand Junction for specialty procedures. Resort-area facilities can bill far above what the corridor cities charge, so location shopping pays off in this state.
This procedure: A knee X-ray takes one or two views of the knee joint, checking for fractures, arthritis, alignment problems, and fluid. It is the recommended first test for most knee pain, especially in patients over 50 where arthritis is likely, and often the only imaging needed. The technologist positions your leg for each quick exposure; standing views may be taken because they show arthritis narrowing better than lying down. The whole visit takes minutes.
What Is Knee X-Ray?
A knee X-ray takes one or two views of the knee joint, checking for fractures, arthritis, alignment problems, and fluid. It is the recommended first test for most knee pain, especially in patients over 50 where arthritis is likely, and often the only imaging needed. The technologist positions your leg for each quick exposure; standing views may be taken because they show arthritis narrowing better than lying down. The whole visit takes minutes.
What Affects the Cost
- –Orthopedic and primary care offices with in-house X-ray typically cost less than hospital radiology departments.
- –Weight-bearing or additional specialized views can be billed as expanded series under related codes.
- –A separate radiologist reading fee may apply where images are sent out for interpretation.
- –A normal X-ray in a younger patient with mechanical symptoms often leads to a knee MRI at many times the price.
- –Imaging both knees for comparison doubles the studies billed.
Questions to Ask Before Booking
- 1.Can the X-ray be done here in the office today, and what will it add to my bill?
- 2.Are standing views needed, and are they billed differently?
- 3.Is an outside radiologist reading the film for a separate fee?
- 4.Based on my age and symptoms, is an MRI likely to be needed, or should the X-ray settle it?
- 5.If you want to compare both knees, is that one charge or two?
Other featured procedures in Colorado
Knee X-Ray in other states
Knee X-Ray in Colorado: questions
Under 2026 Medicare rates, a knee x-ray costs up to about $97 in total at a hospital outpatient department, counting both the physician and the facility (national rates). Outside a hospital, at an independent imaging center, lab or office, Medicare's full rate in Colorado averages $36. Colorado is a single Medicare locality, so the physician rate is the same statewide.
Not on the physician fee schedule. Colorado uses one locality, so the Medicare physician rate is the same from one end of the state to the other. What still changes is site of service (office vs hospital) and any facility fee the hospital bills on its own claim.
After the Part B deductible, coinsurance is usually 20% of the allowed amount: about $7 for the office physician line or $2 for the hospital physician line in Colorado. Medigap may cover that 20%. This is not the hospital facility fee.
It depends on where the test is done. At an independent imaging center, lab or office, $36.14 is Medicare's full rate in Colorado, covering the test and the reading. In a hospital outpatient department the physician is paid only for the reading (about $8.16) and the hospital is paid separately, which brings the national total to up to about $97. Colorado ranks #43 of 51 states on the non-hospital rate (5% above the national office rate of $34.40).