How Much Does a Nuclear Stress Test Cost in Florida?
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$1,397Hospital outpatient total2026 Medicare, physician + facilityUnder 2026 Medicare rates, a nuclear stress test costs about $1,397 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 Florida averages $433, from $414 in Rest of Florida to $450 in Miami.
- ✓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
Florida Medicare physician rate (2026)
+1.2% vs nationalAverage of 3 localities. Office range $413.74–$449.71.
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.
This is Medicare's separate payment to the facility on top of the physician's fee. 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 Florida
Because Florida uses multiple localities, check your ZIP code specifically, whether you are in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Orlando, Tampa Bay, Jacksonville, or the Panhandle.
What nuclear stress test costs at hospitals near you
Everything above is a national average. The hospital you pick in Florida 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 32003.
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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 Florida the office and hospital physician lines for this CPT differ by $356.76.
National vs Florida
Where Florida ranks for this CPT
CPT 78452 by Florida locality
| Locality | Office |
|---|---|
| miami | $449.71 |
| fort lauderdale | $436.19 |
| rest of florida | $413.74 |
PE GPCI ranges from 0.956 to 1.041 in Florida. That index is why the same CPT is not one price statewide.
Nuclear Stress Test and how Florida is priced
Florida is split into a handful of Medicare payment localities rather than priced statewide: Miami carries its own high-cost locality, the Fort Lauderdale area is separately priced, and the remainder of the state, from Jacksonville to the Panhandle, shares rest-of-state pricing. That structure means South Florida procedures carry higher Medicare-approved amounts than identical care in Orlando, Tampa, or rural North Florida. The Miami locality in particular ranks among the more expensive in the eastern United States. For a state with this many Medicare beneficiaries, knowing which locality your ZIP falls in is genuinely useful.
Florida has the nation's most Medicare-driven health economy, and its markets are intensely competitive in the big retiree corridors along both coasts. South Florida is known for high utilization and a dense supply of specialists, while inland and Panhandle counties can be thin on subspecialty care. Seasonal residents should note that prices follow where care is delivered, so a winter procedure in Naples prices differently than one back home up north.
This procedure: A nuclear stress test (SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging) shows how well blood reaches your heart muscle at rest versus under stress, revealing blocked arteries. A small amount of radioactive tracer is injected, a special camera images the heart at rest, then you exercise on a treadmill or receive a medication that mimics exercise, and imaging repeats. Plan for a half day; the multiple imaging sessions and waiting periods make it one of the longest routine cardiac tests.
What Is Nuclear Stress Test?
A nuclear stress test (SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging) shows how well blood reaches your heart muscle at rest versus under stress, revealing blocked arteries. A small amount of radioactive tracer is injected, a special camera images the heart at rest, then you exercise on a treadmill or receive a medication that mimics exercise, and imaging repeats. Plan for a half day; the multiple imaging sessions and waiting periods make it one of the longest routine cardiac tests.
What Affects the Cost
- –The radioactive tracer is a significant supply cost billed alongside the imaging, and tracer prices fluctuate with supply shortages.
- –Pharmacologic stress agents, used for patients who cannot exercise, are expensive drugs billed as additional lines.
- –Hospital outpatient cardiology departments charge substantially more than office-based nuclear labs.
- –Abnormal results commonly lead to cardiac catheterization, a much larger downstream expense.
- –The supervising cardiologist's stress supervision fee and the imaging interpretation fee are separate professional charges.
Questions to Ask Before Booking
- 1.Has prior authorization been approved, and did my insurer suggest a cheaper test first?
- 2.Would a stress echocardiogram or exercise ECG answer the question for me at lower cost?
- 3.What do the tracer and any stress medication add to the bill?
- 4.Is this being done in an office-based lab or a hospital department, and what is the price at each?
- 5.If the result is abnormal, what is the next test and its typical cost?
Other featured procedures in Florida
Nuclear Stress Test in other states
Nuclear Stress Test in Florida: questions
Under 2026 Medicare rates, a nuclear stress test costs about $1,397 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 Florida averages $433, from $414 in Rest of Florida to $450 in Miami. Enter a ZIP for the exact Florida locality.
Yes. CMS splits Florida into 3 payment localities. For this CPT the office physician fee spans $35.97 from the lowest to highest locality. Because Florida uses multiple localities, check your ZIP code specifically, whether you are in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Orlando, Tampa Bay, Jacksonville, or the Panhandle.
After the Part B deductible, coinsurance is usually 20% of the allowed amount: about $87 for the office physician line or $15 for the hospital physician line in Florida. 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, $433.21 is Medicare's full rate in Florida, covering the test and the reading. In a hospital outpatient department the physician is paid only for the reading (about $76.45) and the hospital is paid separately, which brings the national total to about $1,397. Florida ranks #37 of 51 states on the non-hospital rate (within 2% of the national office rate of $427.87).