How Much Does a Chest X-Ray Cost in Maine?
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 (national rates). Outside a hospital, at an independent imaging center, lab or office, Medicare's full rate in Maine averages $32, from $31 in Rest of Maine to $33 in Southern Maine.
- ✓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
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- ✓Everything in the Premium report
- ✓15 nearby hospitals instead of five
- ✓Filled good-faith-estimate request letter
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- ✓Printable PDF download
Maine Medicare physician rate (2026)
-4.2% vs nationalAverage of 2 localities. Office range $30.78–$32.59.
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 Maine
Enter a ZIP code for your part of Maine, whether the Portland area, Lewiston-Auburn, Augusta, Bangor, the midcoast, or Aroostook County in the far north.
What chest x-ray costs at hospitals near you
Everything above is a national average. The hospital you pick in Maine 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 04008.
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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 Maine the office and hospital physician lines for this CPT differ by $21.92.
National vs Maine
Where Maine ranks for this CPT
CPT 71046 by Maine locality
| Locality | Office |
|---|---|
| southern maine | $32.59 |
| rest of maine | $30.78 |
PE GPCI ranges from 0.920 to 0.991 in Maine. That index is why the same CPT is not one price statewide.
Chest X-Ray and how Maine is priced
Maine is priced as a single statewide locality with indices close to, and in parts below, the national average, so Portland and the far northern county towns share one fee schedule. CMS has never needed to subdivide a state where even the largest metro is modest by national standards. The uniform pricing belies enormous differences in access between the populous southern coast and the vast interior. For Mainers, the published statewide rates are what Medicare approves everywhere from Kittery to Fort Kent.
Maine is among the most rural states in the country and has the oldest median age, a combination that concentrates specialty care in Portland and, to a lesser degree, Bangor and Lewiston. Residents of western and northern Maine can face hours of driving for procedures, and some in the far south use Boston hospitals for complex care. Consolidation has left a small number of systems covering most of the state.
This procedure: 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 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.
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?
Other featured procedures in Maine
Chest X-Ray in other states
Chest X-Ray in Maine: 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 (national rates). Outside a hospital, at an independent imaging center, lab or office, Medicare's full rate in Maine averages $32, from $31 in Rest of Maine to $33 in Southern Maine. Enter a ZIP for the exact Maine locality.
Yes. CMS splits Maine into 2 payment localities. For this CPT the office physician fee spans $1.81 from the lowest to highest locality. Enter a ZIP code for your part of Maine, whether the Portland area, Lewiston-Auburn, Augusta, Bangor, the midcoast, or Aroostook County in the far north.
After the Part B deductible, coinsurance is usually 20% of the allowed amount: about $6 for the office physician line or $2 for the hospital physician line in Maine. 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, $31.69 is Medicare's full rate in Maine, covering the test and the reading. In a hospital outpatient department the physician is paid only for the reading (about $9.77) and the hospital is paid separately, which brings the national total to up to about $99. Maine ranks #21 of 51 states on the non-hospital rate (4% below the national office rate of $33.07).